After being in sixth place after two days, the Miami University women’s swimming and diving team surged back into title contention to grab onto second place at the women’s Mid-American Conference (MAC) Swimming and Diving Championships in the Corwin M. Nixon Aquatic Center.

On the final day of the competition, the Red and White held onto their place and finished in the runner-up position, helping extend their streak of finishing first or second in the MAC meet 15 out of the last 17 years.

“The MAC Championships were a blast for us this year,” senior swimmer Allison Way said. “After Thursday night, our team was in sixth place, and then by the end of Friday, we were in second. That is a huge jump to make in one day, so we definitely performed at optimum level on Friday. It was the most energy and team spirit I’ve ever seen our team have, and that helped fuel some amazing swims at night.”

The final day of the competition got off to a great start for the ’Hawks when junior Miranda Kaltenborn swam a career best in the 1,650 yard freestyle, clocking in at a time of 17:02.33 in the first event of the day. Senior Kasey Carpenter followed Kaltenborn by breaking her own school record in the 200-yard backstroke, finishing second in a time of 1:28.58.

After making a run into second place the day before, the women’s swimmers and divers had to hold off a hard charging Ohio University (OU) team to keep second. After OU closed within four points of the RedHawks midway through the meet, juniors Kelsey Vehr and Megan Brunn kept the Bobcats in third by finishing first and third respectively in the 200-yard breastsroke. Vehr, who won her third individual MAC title of 2010 with the win, clocked in at 2:11.70, breaking the conference and meet record she previously held.

Miami secured second place when senior diver Kelsey Anagnos and freshmen divers Danica Roskos and Corrine Bangs placed second, seventh and eleventh overall respectively to open up a 43-point lead over OU with just one event to go.

“This year’s team was different than past years,” Vehr said. “We have an incredibly young team, and this year we had a lot of freshman that stepped it up. We really came together faster as a team than we had in years past, and that is why we were successful in so many races.”

The RedHawks started their charge from sixth to second on Friday night behind Vehr, who won two individual MAC titles in the 400-yard individual medley and 100-yard breaststroke events. The Red and White continued their comeback in the 100-yard butterfly when Way, freshmen Maegan O’Connor and Brittney Rohr and junior Nicole Roddenberry finished third, fifth, seventh and eighth respectively to earn 53 points for Miami.

Going into Friday, the ’Hawks were 110 points behind first place and eventual champion University of Toledo. After Friday’s events, the Red and White cut the lead to 67 heading into the final day of competition on Saturday.

“The key to the meet was that we had fun,” Way said. “We dance out to our lanes, we cheer with the fans, parents and alumni and we always support each other. That’s what makes MACs so amazing.”

Vehr and Brunn were both named to the All-MAC First Team, while the second team consisted of Anagnos, O’Connor and freshman Leah Thornton.