Toledo, Ohio - The University of Toledo's swimming and diving team will travel to Annapolis, Md. this week to compete in the 2018 College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) National Invitational, hosted by the United States Naval Academy. The postseason meet will be the last competition of the Rockets' season.
 
The invitational runs from March 8-10 at Lejeune Hall within the Academy and will feature swimmers from 49 programs. The field is made up of swimmers who met NCAA Championship time standards, but did not receive an invitation to the NCAA national meet. No live video will be available for the match but live stats can be followed here. Fans planning to attend the event are strongly encouraged to review the U.S. Naval Academy's parking and shuttle policy, which can be viewed on the attached meet information page.
 
The Rockets will send sophomore Izzy Jones, sophomore Maureen O'Sullivan, freshman Alida Ramden, sophomore Duda Sales, freshman Lisa Eriksson, sophomore Bec Welke, and senior Allison Dicke to the competition.
 
Head coach Jonas Persson is looking forward to the opportunity that the meet will give his swimmers to further test their limits and compete against programs that UT doesn't normally face.
 
"I think it's just great experience and exposure for our team," Persson said. "It's teaching them how to do a conference meet and then 10 days later show up and do it all over again against much faster swimmers. It's similar to how it would be at the NCAA tournament. So it's just a great experience. It gives them a chance to go to a new place with a really nice pool, and to race other people that we normally wouldn't race."
 
Persson added that the CSCAA Invitational provides a chance for swimmers to compete in a more relaxed environment.
 
"It's just all positives and I think the girls are looking forward to it," Persson said. "They're very relaxed and there isn't a whole lot of pressure. It's kind of just go out, have fun and race, and that's it. They might swim a few different events than they did at conference because they're still very good at those events. It'll just be a great meet for us to go to."
 
Toledo is coming off the Mid-American Conference Championships that ran Feb. 21-24 in Athens, Ohio. UT finished sixth with 254 points, a 14-point improvement over last year's seventh-place finish. UT recorded eight new entries into the program's all-time top-10 list during the championships, and nine Rockets recorded personal bests throughout the week. Three Rockets also swam times that qualified for the NCAA B-cut.
 
2018 MAC CHAMPIONSHIP TIMES
Izzy Jones: Jones' highest finish in Athens was in the 200-yard back where the sophomore finished third in 1:57.12. She also podiumed in the 100-yard back (fourth, 54.87), 200-yard free (4th, 1:47.90), and the 100-yard free (5th, 51.63). Jones' time in the 200-yard free earned her third on UT's all-time top-10 list for the event
 
Maureen O'Sullivan: O'Sullivan's best finishes came in the 50- and 100-yard back events. The sophomore earned fifth in the 50 back, touching in at 25.56. She then stopped the clock at 55.30 in the 100 back to take seventh.
 
Alida Ramden:  Ramden's best finish at the championships came in the 200-yard free where she earned fourth with a time of 1:49.95. Her time earned her the 10th spot on the UT all-time top-10 list for the event. The Swede also podiumed in the 200-yard IM, earning seventh with a time of 2:02.73.
 
Duda Sales:  Sales' best finish came in the 100-yard fly where she earned seventh, touching in at 54.96. Her time earned her the fifth spot on UT's all-time top-10 list for the event.
 
Lisa Eriksson: Eriksson's best finish came in the 50-yard free where she touched in at 23.69 to earn 18th place. Her best time in the event was at the Zippy Invitational in Dec. 2017 where she finished in 23.38, claiming fourth on UT's all-time top-10 list for the event.
 
Bec Welke: Welke's best swim of the tournament came in the 100-yard breast where she finished eighth in 1:02.85. Her time earned her the sixth spot on UT's all-time top-10 list for the event.
 
Allison Dicke: Dicke's best finish was in the 50-yard free where she earned fifth after touching in at 23.54. The senior earned the eighth spot on UT's all-time top-10 list for the event for her performance.
 
2018 CSCAA NATIONAL INVITATIONAL EVENT SCHEDULE
10:30 a.m. trials and 6 p.m. finals each day
Shuttle bus service runs from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. for prelims and 5-11 p.m. for finals
Thursday, March 8
500 Freestyle (prelims and finals)
200 Individual Medley (prelims and finals)
50 Freestyle (prelims and finals)
200 Freestyle Relay (timed final at night)
400 Medley Relay (timed final at night)
 
Friday, March 9
400 Individual Medley (prelims and finals)
100 Butterfly (prelims and finals)
200 Freestyle (prelims and finals)
100 Breaststroke (prelims and finals)
100 Backstroke (prelims and finals)
200 Medley Relay (timed final at night)
800 Freestyle Relay (timed final at night)
 
Saturday, March 10
1650 Freestyle (timed final during prelims and finals)
100 Individual Medley (prelims and finals)
200 Backstroke (prelims and finals)
100 Freestyle (prelims and finals)
200 Breaststroke (prelims and finals)
200 Butterfly (prelims and finals)
400 Freestyle Relay (timed final at night)

TICKETS
All-session passes are $50 and single session tickets are $10. Tickets can be purchased in advance of the meet by going to the TICKETS tab within the masthead of NavySports.com or by calling 1-800-US4-NAVY.  Seating within the 1,000-seat venue is general admission and available on a first come, first serve basis.

SCHOOLS PARTICIPATING IN THE 2018 CSCAA NATIONAL INVITATIONAL
Air Force
Army West Point
Boise State
Bryant
Buffalo
Cal State Bakersfield
Campbell
Central Connecticut State
Colgate
Denver
Drexel
Duquesne
Fairfield
Florida International
Fordham
Gardner-Webb
George Washington
Georgia Southern
Grand Canyon
Houston
Illinois State
Incarnate Word
Iona
IUPUI
La Salle
Lehigh
Long Island Brooklyn
Loyola
Mount St. Mary's
Navy
Nebraska-Omaha
New Hampshire
North Texas
Old Dominion
Rider
Sacred Heart
Saint Francis College
San Diego
San Jose State
Seton Hall
South Carolina
Southern Illinois
Toledo
Towson
Tulane
UMBC
Vanderbilt
Vermont
Wright State