Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Drops First Home Swim Meet to Ball State
1/18/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Marshall Drops First Home Swim Meet to Ball State
1/18/2003
- Full Results
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. ? The visiting Ball State Cardinals upended the Thundering Herd women?s swimming and diving team by a 187-111 final score at Frederick A. Fitch Natatorium on Saturday in a Mid-American Conference clash. It was the first home meet that Marshall hosted since the women?s program was reborn this season, and the Herd?s first competitive meet since Nov. 16.
Freshman Milla Kuurto (Lohja, Finland) earned three first place finishes, the second time that she turned the hat trick this season. Her time of 56.91 in the 100-yard butterfly is a season best and vaults her to the top of the MAC in the event. Kuurto also won the 200-yard freestyle (1:53.84) and the 200-yard butterfly (2:06.83).
Ball State won both relay events and was paced by the superior swimming of Karla Bailey and Melissa Keilen, both individual double winners on the afternoon.
Erika Nilsson (Haninge, Sweden) dominated the competition in the freestyle events, winning the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:32.40) nearly 16 seconds ahead of Ball State?s Danielle Fisher. Nilsson, a sophomore, triumphed in the 500-yard freestyle (5:14.62), four seconds ahead of the Cardinals? Amber Arnold to earn her third double victory meet of the year.
?I am very appreciative of the crowd that came out for our first meet,? said head coach Leonard Kraus. ?It?s always a little rough in your first meet back from a training trip, but our performance was above and beyond my expectations.?
Marshall recently returned from its Florida training session in early January.
The diving events were controlled by Herd freshman Casey Mulholland (Stone Mountain, Ga.), who qualified for the NCAA Diving Zone Championships with her score of 277.05 off of the 3-meter board. Mulholland edged out Ball State?s Cassandra Pavlovich in the 1-meter competition, by a score of 221.25-213.83.
Mulholland?s 3-meter training started late in the season due to the renovations of Fitch Natatorium, and she had never competed in the event until joining the Herd. ?Casey trained hard during our time off,? said diving coach Clifton Waterbury, ?and it really paid off today.?
The Thundering Herd also received stellar efforts from sophomore Liisa Raty (Espoo, Finland) and freshman Emily Moe (Rockford, Mich.). Raty won the 200-yard backstroke (2:12.51) and claimed second place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:02.32. Moe, the Herd?s top breaststroker, secured two second place finishes in the breaststroke events.
Marshall (4-4, 0-3 MAC) returns to the water next weekend to host MAC foe Miami on Friday at 5 p.m. The Radford Highlanders travel to Huntington for a Saturday meet at 2 p.m. at Fitch Natatorium.
