Years ago, the Cuyahoga River caught on fire and Cleveland natives have never been able to forget the indignity of such a rare sight.
Thursday (Feb. 9) at the 2012 GLIAC Swimming and Diving Championships in Jenison, Mich., the water caught fire again as AU junior Julie Widmann (Littleton, Colo./Heritage) put out her own version of "Smoke on the Water."
Widmann set a GLIAC record and picked up the gold medal in the 50 freestyle. She blazed through the water in 22.84. That's also a school record and an "A" cut for nationals this March in Texas. Widmann broke the record established by AU swimming legend Jamie McDaniel, who set the GLIAC record of 22.98 in 1998.
Setting a record like that is full day's work, but Widmann's job description went a little deeper than that. She was part of the 200 free relay that came home in 1:33.90, good for second place. That was a 'B" cut. Joining Widmann in that race were junior Rachael Ausdenmoore (Southlake, Texas/Lakewood), sophomore Gabriela Verudgo-Arzaluz (Chihuahua, Mexico/Institute Technologico y de Estudious Superiores de) and senior Mary Cargill (Wadsworth, Ohio).
The AU men's 200 free relay was third in 1:22.73. That was a "B" cut. The members of that relay were sophomore Hueston Holder (Brooklyn, Iowa/Brooklyn-Guerney-Malcom), sophomore Braxton Wright (Lexington, Ohio), freshman Steve Moss (Youngstown, Ohio/Boardman) and sophomore Jacob Miller (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard-Davidson).
The men's 400 medley relay was second in 3:17.63. That quartet consisted of junior Mauricio Uranga (Chihuahua, Mexico/La Salle Chihuahua), junior Cheyne Fisher (Durban, South Africa/Westville), junior Tyler Remmel (Hubertus, Wis./Hertford Union) and sophomore Alex Sheil (Sydney, Australia/Trinity).
The GLIAC Championships run through Saturday night.
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