The Miami University swimming and diving teams are ready for their season finales, as the men's team hits the road to take on Ball State University while the women host Mid-American Conference (MAC) rival Ohio University. The men's team is looking to snap a two-meet skid and the women are looking to extend their winning streak to nine meets.
Ball State (1-3, 0-1 MAC) is coming off consecutive defeats, after it was convincingly defeated 103-178 by the University at Buffalo at home. All the Cardinals' losses this season have been by 48 points or more.
"This is a long standing rivalry that goes back to the early 1970's," head coach Pete Lindsay said. "The Cardinals are known as a very strong team in the sprint events and Coach Bob Thomas is one of the best at the sprinting game. Their pool is a late '60s design with relatively shallow water in comparison to Miami. We will start into five-foot depth instead of 10, so we have been practicing this week in five feet of water to master the type of starts and entries required. It will be their senior recognition meet, so we expect some good performances from the whole team. We will have a chance this week to practice our skills in the swimmers' third events for the MAC meet. Some have only swum those events once or twice this year, so it is a great opportunity to ready themselves."
Miami (4-3, 1-2 MAC) has fallen in consecutive meets against MAC foes as it tumbled against the University at Buffalo and was beaten at home by Eastern Michigan University.
Ohio (5-5, 2-2 MAC) snapped a three-meet losing streak with a dominant 197.5-96.5 win over West Virginia University before falling 173-126 to Iowa State University in its final home meet of the season.
The Bobcats travel to Xavier University Friday before meeting up with the RedHawks. OU has dropped its last two decisions against MAC opponents.
The women's team (8-1, 5-0 MAC) is rolling as it won its eighth straight meet Saturday against the Eagles 176-124. All the RedHawks victories this season have been by 36 points or more.
"This week, we're focused on building our power," head coach Mark Davis said. "Like last week, it's all about doing all the little things right, getting perfect starts and perfect turns. We've done a good job of stepping up all year. This week, we're excited to have people racing against Ohio, because it's okay for them to be out of their comfort zone... The players did some things differently than they did under Dave [Jennings] but they really did a good job of adapting."
Junior Emma Craig said the team was focused on being relaxed leading up to the meet.
"We're working on hitting our paces and our times this week and just having fun," junior Emma Craig said. "It's senior night, so we're trying to have our seniors go out with a bang. Last week, we were more positive and relaxed because we race better when we're relaxed, so we'll have to keep it up this week."
The men's team takes on the Cardinals 2 p.m. Saturday in Muncie, Ind. while the women's team hosts the Bobcats at 10 a.m.
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