Victories do not have to be aesthetically pleasing, and today's win for John Carroll over Mount Union may not have always been pretty.

But some key efforts late in the meet had to give head coach Mark Fino a reason to smile in light of his team's 149-145 victory.

Results

The meet began with a win by the 400 Medley Relay. Katelin Avenir, Gwyn Ledrick, Tori Vale and Felice Ferrante posted a time of 4:07.84 to win the race.

Maddie Dolce followed with a victory in the 1000 Free (11:27.50).

Chloe Ruggiero powered her way to a win in the 200 Fly, with a winning time of 2:18.76 that was over five seconds clear of the field.

Ledrick, who normally does not swim freestyle events, won the 100 Free in 56.46. The sophomore All-American made her name in breaststroke events last year.

Still, after 20 events, John Carroll trailed by a 97-88 count. The Blue Streaks would need some big efforts down the stretch.

That is what they got, starting with the 200 Breast. Ruggiero (2:36.04) and Samantha Nagy (2:37.13) went 1-2 in the 200 Breast, as did Vale (1:02.43) and Ruggiero (1:03.62) in the 100 Fly. Sandwiched in between was another win by Dolce in the 500 Free (5:31.47).

With two events left. John Carroll led by a slim 131-125 margin. That's when Ledrick (2:16.66) and Emily Yoos came up with a tremendous effort in the 200 IM, finishing first and second to push the JCU advantage to 145-130.

All the Blue Streaks would need is for the "A" team to finish second or better in the 400 Free Relay to claim the meet. Shelbi Shearer, Hope Scherger, Kyleah Gaydos and Dolxce just missed a win, taking second in 3:49.55.

With the win, John Carroll improves to 2-1 overall and 2-0 in the OAC.