HIRAM, Ohio – A sick Lady Baron Swimming & Diving squad worked to overcome their illnesses in a dual-double meet against Hiram College and Washington & Jefferson College. Franciscan lost to W&J and lost to Hiram, a team that beat them by one earlier in the season, 62-47.
"It was a tough meet. They did well but it wasn't our best," head coach Kateri Lang said. "It's a hard time of the season because they're ready to start tapering with champs coming up."
While a number of the swimmers weren't at one hundred percent, the team got a boost from returning diver Kelly Rankin who dove in her first meet of the season. The junior showed little signs of rust against a talented Washington & Jefferson diving program, taking first in the 3-meter dive with a score of 207 and third in the 1-meter dive with a score of 170.05.
"We don't even have a 3-meter board to practice on so the fact that she just threw six dives on that board in her first diving meet and took first is amazing," Lang said.
The team also saw freshman Mara Grabski return from an injury to swim in three events; the 200 Medley Relay, the 50 free, and the 100 breaststroke. Lang said the times for all of her swimmers were hard to compare because the meet was hosted in a different sized pool than the team usually competes in.
The two most successful swimmers for FUS were senior Maria Giuliani and freshman Emily McNulty. McNulty continued her dominant freshman season, again winning the 100 butteryfly with a time of 1:10.85 and the 200 IM with a time of 2:36.84.
While McNulty took the fly events, Giuliani took the 200 free with a time of 2:22.29 and finished second in the 100 free with a time of 1:06.05.
Lang said the team is getting close to tapering their workouts to rest and recover from a grueling practice schedule before they compete for a conference championship in three weeks.
"The context of this time of the year is really hard but I think everyone is ready to start tapering," Lang said. "Giuliani said she's never felt more prepared as she has this season. Coach Angela Belback's ability to schedule awesome practices has put us ahead in ways that we've never been before."
The well trained Lady Barons have one more meet before champs, a two school matchup with Chatham University at Chatham on January 31 at 1 pm.
