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Friday, February 23, 2007
Four Miamians earn MAC Academic honor
CLEVELAND — Four members of the Miami University women's swimming and diving team were tabbed to the All-Mid-American Conference academic team, as the conference office announced the 20 honorees Thursday.
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Juniors Kristen Bezier
and Kathryn Stephens, who also earned second-team all-MAC accolades, and sophomores Allison Stevens and Melissa Roemmele each were named to the academic all-MAC team for the first time in their careers.
Bezier, who holds a 3.29 GPA in finance, was named to the academic all-MAC team after placing as the conference runner-up in the 100 breaststroke and helping Miami to a third-place MAC finish.
Stephens, who holds a 3.34 GPA in exercise science, earned her first academic all-MAC honor after finishing as the MAC runner-up in the 100 butterfly and swimming a leg on the title-winning and school-record setting 400 medley relay team.
Stevens, who holds a 3.89 GPA in journalism, was one of two Miami sophomores named to the academic all-conference team.
Roemmele, who holds a 3.94 GPA in linguistics, was the only Miami diver who earned academic all-MAC honors. She posted a pair of top-10 finishes on the boards at the conference meet.
Ricard, Heaton
win MAC titles
BUFFALO, N.Y.— Senior Paul Ricard and sophomore Chris Heaton successfully defended their conference titles in the 500 freestyle and 1-meter dive, respectively, as the Miami University men's swimming and diving team wrapped up the first day of competition Thursday at the 2007 Mid-American Conference Swimming and Diving Championships.
With 233.5 points, Miami stands second through six events and trails only Eastern Michigan, which tallied 328 points on the meet's first day.
Setting a new Miami, MAC conference meet and pool record in the 500 free, Ricard clocked in with a first-place time of 4:21.54, finishing more than three seconds ahead of the second-place swimmer. Ricard shattered his previous personal-best of 4:26.14 and Dick Clarke's 1989 school record of 4:23.86.
The time, also an NCAA "B" cut, helped Ricard defend his MAC title in the 500 free and propelled him to a No. 13 national ranking in the event.
Following in Ricard's footsteps as a repeat winner, Heaton won the 1-meter diving title for the second straight season, finishing with a top score of 338.20. The defending MAC Diver of the Year, Heaton broke his own meet record score of 333.50, which he set at last season's conference championship.
The title-winning dive was Heaton's third in as many tries, as he has now won every MAC diving title (3 total) that he has competed for in the past two seasons.
Miami resumes day two of the three-day MAC Championships tomorrow at noon.
— Staff reports
