HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall’s 2015-16 swimming and diving schedule, announced today, includes head-to-head matchups against six new opponents and a berth in the prestigious Nike Cup in Chapel Hill, N.C.
In Coach Bill Tramel’s fourth season, the Herd will compete against member schools from the Southeastern, American Athletic and Atlantic 10 conferences, as well as face league foes in Conference USA.
For the fifth year in a row, the Herd opens its season with the Oct. 8-9 West Virginia Games, hosted this year in Morgantown. The two-day, three-session event gathers all eight collegiate teams from the state. Marshall has finished second each time the event has been held.
Marshall opens its home season Oct. 23 at Fitch Natatorium against Cincinnati and VMI – the first meeting of those teams.
The Herd will travel to Davidson on Oct. 30-31 for a two-day tri-meet with the host Wildcats and C-USA opponent Old Dominion. Marshall finished higher than ODU at the 2015 Conference USA Championships, but the Herd hasn’t beaten the Monarchs head-to-head. Davidson finished fourth in the Atlantic 10 in 2014-15.
On Nov. 6, Marshall faces host Cleveland State for the first time in school history. The following day, the Herd will go against CSU and St. Bonaventure in a tri-meet in Cleveland.
“(Cleveland State) Coach (Paul) Graham is a Marshall alumnus, so it will be fun to go compete against a friend of our program,” Tramel said. “Cleveland State has a great facility for fast swimming, and a 10-meter platform, so we hope to compete in that event as well.”
The MU-Ohio University rivalry is renewed Nov. 13, this time in Athens, Ohio. Last season, Marshall won for the first time in history against the Bobcats.
“Last year’s meet certainly was special for us, especially being on the Nov. 14 (football team plane crash) anniversary,” Tramel said. “The meet was a lot closer than the score showed. It’s going to be a great rematch.”
The first semester schedule will conclude Nov. 19-21 when Marshall travels to the 29th annual Nike Cup. Hosted by North Carolina, a top 20 team in 2015, the meet will include some of the nation’s elite teams, with North Carolina State (another NCAA top 20 finisher), Duke, East Carolina, James Madison, Navy, ODU and Yale also in the field.
“I am thrilled to be taking our team to Chapel Hill for the Nike Cup,” Tramel said. “I was meet director of the Nike Cup during my nine years coaching at UNC. It has always been a fast meet in one of the fastest pools on the East Coast. I’m so thankful to North Carolina’s head coach, Rich DeSelm, for inviting us.”
The spring semester schedule will open Jan. 24 when Marshall returns home to rekindle a series against James Madison. The last meeting was in 2011. The Thundering Herd will look for its first victory against the Dukes.
A Jan. 30 tri-meet in Nashville, Tenn., marks the continuation of the Vanderbilt series. Marshall dropped a heartbreaker to the Commodores last season, 150-143. The other team competing in the meet is North Florida. Marshall and the Ospreys never have met.
The regular season will conclude in Huntington with the return of the Marshall Invitational on Feb. 5-6. The two-day, 20-event meet matches Marshall against Mid-American Conference members Ohio and Toledo.
Championship season begins with the C-USA Championships from Feb. 24-27 in Atlanta, at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center – site of the Centennial Olympic Games swimming and diving competition in 1996.
“I speak for the whole conference when I say we are excited to have the opportunity to compete in the Olympic pool,” Tramel said. “In fact, we will be there this year and next year. It really provides a great championship atmosphere.”
Diving athletes fortunate enough to qualify for NCAA Zone Championships will travel to Annapolis, Md., from March 7-9 for the Zone A competition. Divers advancing will join any swimmers who are invited to the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships, scheduled March 17-19 in Atlanta.
“I believe we have put together a challenging schedule,” Coach Tramel said. “We have to be ready to compete our best in every meet to win. We added more multi-day competitions, which will provide us opportunity to manage competing on back-to-back days, similar to a championship setting. We are competing against friends, and also some very good teams. It will be fun.”
Swimming news courtesy of Marshall University Swimming & Diving.
Go Herd! Can’t wait to see them stomp Ohio University even harder this year.