Mark Fino was part of John Carroll's only tie in program history. Except he was on the other side that day.

This time, he was on the Blue Streaks' side. Given where his team was with two events to go, he will gladly take it.

John Carroll rallied from 26 points down over the final two races to forge a 115-115 tie against visiting Ashland Friday night at the William H. Johnson Natatorium.

Results

The previous tie dual meet in JCU history occurred on January 20, 2012. Fino, then the coach of Oberlin College, tied the Blue Streaks that day, 107-107.

Despite being in the deficit for majority of the meet this evening, John Carroll preserved until an improbable ending.

Things began well for the Blue & Gold. The "A" team, consisting of Katelin Avenir, Tori Vale, Gwyn Ledrick, and Shelbi Shearer, touched first in the 400 Yard Medley Relay to start off the meet.

In the 1000 Yard Freestyle, Paige Wnek came in third for her team with a time of 11:37.59.

In the next event, the 200 Free, Hope Scherger also earned a third place showing.

Olivia Talamo and Shearer swam in one after the other, taking second and third place, respectively, in the 50 Free. JCU trailed 43-31 at this juncture.

Ledrick (2:13.55) and Maddie Dolce (2:20.56) reversed the trend in the 200 IM, helping JCU tie the meet at 46-46.

That would be short-lived, as Ashland won the next six events to take what seemed to be a commanding 108-82 lead following diving. What kept the Blue Streaks within shouting distance were events like the 100 Free, where Emily Yoos grabbed second place, Felice Ferrante claimed third and McKenzie Stine took fourth to offset the first place points the Eagles were accruing.

John Carroll trailed by 26 points going into the final two events, meaning mathematically the best the Blue Streaks could hope for was a tie. But that meant sweeping the podium in the 200 Breast and taking first and second in the final relay.

The 200 Breast trio did their part. Ledrick, with her second first place finish of the night, started a 1-2-3 sweep in the 200 Yard Breaststroke, cutting the deficit in half. Chloe Ruggiero and Sam Nagy followed in behind for second and third place finishes.

That still left the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay.

The "A" team, consisting of Dolce, Shearer, Ferrante, and Talamo pulled through to take first place with a time of 3:47.79.

What needed to happen was for the John Carroll "B" team to beat the Ashland "A" team in the last race.

Incredibly, that is what happened. The "B" team of Vale, Yoos, Avenir, and Scherger touched second (3:50.53) by less than a second (3:51.48), completing the exact math needed to tie the Eagles.

With the tie, John Carroll moves to 4-2-1 overall.

The Blue Streaks, now have a quick turnaround for their next home meet. Tomorrow, January 26th, the Blue Streaks will be swimming in a conference meet against the Wilmington College Quakers at 1:00 pm.