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CINCINNATI -- Head coach Mandy Commons-DiSalle uses in-state rivals as her measuring stick for the University of Cincinnati swimming and diving programs. On the men's side, which is continuing to rebuild since returning scholarships to the sport, UC reached a major milestone with a victory over Miami (Ohio) on Saturday at the Keating Aquatics Cetner.
The Bearcats men scored a 182-118 victory over the RedHawks, powered by several 1-2 finishes. The women fell on the flip side of a similar margin, with Miami taking a 188-111 victory.
// MEN'S RECAP
Chris Bready (Missouri City, Texas/Lawrence E. Elkins) kicked off men's action with a victory in the 1,000 freestyle. The Bearcats also started their trend of taking points by placing second and third with Joe Bott (Clive, Iowa/Dowling Catholic) finishing second and Cody Green (College Station, Texas/A&M Consolidated) third.
UC got a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 freestyle, with Eitan Holder (Caracas, Venezuela/Aviv (Israel)) winning, followed by Connor Davis (Cincinnati, Ohio/Anderson) and Hunter Pasek (Villa Hills, Ky./Covington Catholic).
After Miami won the 100 backstroke, UC took the momentum back in the 100 breaststroke with Dan Gilbertson (Appleton, Wis./Appleton North) winning and Trenton Harper (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) collecting second-place points.
Cincinnati again went 1-2 in the 200 butterfly, with Ryan DePietro (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) earning a win and Joey Ferreri (Mission Viejo, Calif./Capistrano Valley/Wyoming) placing second.
Miami's Joe Baumgarter took the 50 freestyle, but Ryan Charbonneau (Broadview Heights, Ohio/Brecksville-Broadview Heights), Dean Waite (Valrico, Fla./Bloomingdale) and Davis finished second, third and fourth, respectively.
Holder won his second event of the day in the 100 freestyle before Todd Brannon (Duluth, Ga./Norcross/Colorado School of Mines) collected a victory in the 200 backstroke.
The men had their deepest finish of the day in the 200 breaststroke, with Tyler Roehr (Cottage Grove, Wis./Monona Grove) winning, followed by Harper in second, Gilbertson in third and Nik Balmer in fourth.
Bready picked-up another victory in the 500 freestyle, with Ferreri finishing second, before Holder won the 100 butterfly with Pasek in second place. DePietro joined the multi-event winners club by taking the 400 individual medley just ahead of Green to cap individual action.
Davis, Holder, Pasek and Waite then captured the 400 freestyle relay to seal the victory.
// WOMEN'S RECAP
The Bearcats faced an uphill climb with Miami holding a significant depth advantage. The RedHawks opened with victories in the 200 medley relay and 1,000 freestyle before Jackie Keire (Burlington, Ont./Nelson) captured her first race of the day in the 200 freestyle.
Iuliia Fedoreeva (Barnaul, Russia/Barnaul) collected a victory in the 200 butterfly, touching the wall just ahead of Miami's Kathleen Dodson, before Miami was victorious in the 50 freestyle with Annie Marquiss finishing just ahead of UC's Helena Pikhartova (Prague, Czech Republic/Gymnazium Jana Nerudy).
Keire collected more first place points for the Bearcats in the 100 freestyle, winning in 51.52. The RedHawks followed with victories in the 200 backstroke and 200 breaststroke before Keire won the 500 freestyle in 5:04.97.
Miami won the final two individual events (100 butterfly, 400 indvidual medley), before capping the meet with a victory in the 400 freestyle.
// DIVING RECAP
The Bearcats divers competed prior to the swimming portion of the meet. Junior Amanda Coffey (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek) completed the top performance for UC, placing second on the one-meter board with a season-best score of 236.325.
// COMMONS-DISALLE ON THE MEET
On the men's performance:
"The men really did what I asked them to do, which is get out and be aggressive from the beginning. Come out swinging from the beginning and just dominate. Being able to compete against in-state rivals is very valuable and we're starting to make a name for ourselves. Especially on the guys side, coming out of the hole we were in a few years back (with no scholarships). I was so proud of the guys effort today. Not just winning, but two, three, four places they were getting their hands on the wall, which is what you need to do to win."
On the women staying competitive:
"Women were a different story. Miami had 20 more girls here than we did, so their focus today was getting out, racing and staying competitive. It wasn't about winning for them today, but what they didn't do was roll over. They stayed competitive.
On competing consecutive weeks as they prepare for the conference meet:
"We're grinding every week, trying to fine-tune what we're doing. We're making a conscious effort of our races, keeping in mind we have conference about five weeks out and we don't have a lot of time to play around with stuff, so they've got to get it done in meets.
// UP NEXT
Cincinnati travels to Rochester, Michigan, for a two-day meet at Oakland where they will also face Kenyon and Olivet. The meet takes place Friday, Jan. 16, and Saturday, Jan. 17.