Tiger Men Place Sixth In NCAC Championship Meet

The Wittenberg men's and women's swimming and diving teams turned in solid finishes at the North Coast Athletic Conference championships Feb. 10-12 in Canton, Ohio. The Tiger women placed fourth for the fifth straight year, behind Kenyon, Denison and Wooster, three of the top 10 teams in the nation. The Tiger men placed a deceiving sixth, just 30 points out of fourth place, in a meet that featured several of the top teams nationally and dozens of NCAA Division III qualifying times in both the men's and women's competitions.

The meet highlight for the Red & White was clearly provided by junior Becca Searcy (Shelbyville, Ky./Shelby County), who placed in the top five in three individual events and earned provisional qualifying times each time, including an NCAA "A" Cut time of 17:26 in the 1650-yard freestyle, good for third place and All-NCAC honors.

Junior Betany Yeakley (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) turned in the first All-NCAC finish of her career by taking third place in the 100 backstroke in an NCAA "B" Cut time of 59.54. She also placed sixth in the 200 back.

Sophomore Jen Mulligan (Cheyney, Pa./Delaware Valley Friends) was also outstanding in both backstroke events, placing sixth in the 100 and seventh in the 200. It's an indication of the phenomenal depth in the NCAC field that Mulligan was one of six individuals to earn NCAA "B" Cuts in the 100 back.

Also of note individually was freshman Lindsay Smith (Mount Vernon, Ohio/Mount Vernon), who turned in strong performances in the 50 and 100 free and the 100 butterfly. She turned in a pair of 10th place finishes in the freestyle events.

In the women's relays, the Tigers were consistent but also unable to break through for an All-NCAC finish. Yeakley, junior Amy Conner (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville), Mulligan and Smith placed fifth in the 400 medley relay, sophomore Shantel Sechrist (Saltsburg, Pa./Saltsburg), Conner, Mulligan and Smith placed fifth in the 200 medley relay, Searcy, sophomore Hillary Clark (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer), freshman Kaitlin Clark (Wakeman, Ohio/Firelands) and Yeakley came in fourth in the 800 free relay, and Kaitlin Clark, Searcy, Yeakley and Smith took fifth in the 400 free relay.

Rounding things out for the women was freshman Courtney Roth (Gurnee, Ill./Lake Forest), who placed fourth in the 3-meter diving competition and seventh in the 1-meter.

On the men's side, the team's points leader was freshman Ryan Schramm (Cincinnati, Ohio/Roger Bacon), who finished 10th in the 400 IM and fifth in the 1650 free, the latter being the best individual finish for a Tiger men's swimmer. The best individual finish overall came from sophomore Cody Nicely (Knoxville, Tenn./Bearden), who placed third in the 3-meter diving event and sixth in the 1-meter event. It was the second straight year he has earned All-NCAC honors.

Sophomore Sean Wolf (White Lake, Mich./Walled Lake Central) turned in several outstanding finishes, including a pair of 12th places in the 50 and 100 free. In addition, senior Jonathan Newcomer (Valencia, Pa./Mars Area) place 11th in the 100 back and 18th in the 200 back, and freshman Nick Pierson (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) placed 12th in the 400 IM.

One top-five relay finish was turned in by Newcomer, sophomore Ben Weible (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood), senior Blake Troxel (Bluffton, Ind./Norwell) and junior Dan McGuire (Elyria, Ohio/Elyria) in the 200 medley relay.

Several swimmers will take one last shot at qualifying for the national meet this weekend at at the Case Western Reserve Veale Invitational. Searcy is the only Tiger swimmer assured of a spot in the national meet, while Yeakley and Mulligan are provisionally qualified and likely will have to improve upon their times at Case Western.

Next: 3/10-12 @ NCAA Championships Holland, Mich. (Men)
3/17-19 @ NCAA Championships Holland, Mich. (Women)