Bowling Green, Ohio – The Toledo women's swimming and diving team won seven events in a battle with rival Bowling Green but were ultimately outpointed by the Falcons, 205-148, in a two-day meet at Cooper Pool on Friday and Saturday.

Once again, the Rockets were led by freshmen and sophomores. On Friday, freshmen Macarena Garcia (10:13.50 in the 1000 freestyle) and Lisa Eriksson (23.85 in the 50 free) took top spots, as did sophomore Maureen O'Sullivan whose 54.80 time in the 100 backstroke was good enough to make the NCAA b-cut.

On Saturday, senior Allison Dicke (51.39 in the 100 free) and sophomore Eduarda Sales (55:03 in the 100 fly) took gold. The Rockets also captured two relay events on Saturday. The foursome of Eriksson, Dicke, Sales and freshman Alida Ramden edged out the Falcons in the 200 free by fraction of a second, 1:33.70 to 1:33.94. In the 400 medley, the final event of the meet, O'Sullivan, freshman Lina Berggren, Sales and Dicke won a close race with a time of 3:46.25.

"I'm happy with how we performed," said head coach Jonas Persson. "We ended up with seven girls having the flu this week, so that made a negative impact on our performance. But our swimmers and divers really stepped up and showed that our improvement from last year is significant.

"It was a fast meet and Bowling Green was ready to race. I'm especially pleased with how Maureen, Lina, Eduarda, Allison, Lisa and Macarena performed. Many others also had great swims but weren't able to place in the top three. It is unfortunate when you have sickness and are left in a very hard position to have a chance to win the meet, but we reminded ourselves that the most important meet of the year is still to come, so we're not worried. I'm looking forward hosting BGSU at home next year."

The Rockets will now begin preparations for the MAC Championships, Feb. 21-23 in Athens, Ohio.