Women Wrap Up Dual Meet Season With Loss To Case Western

The Wittenberg men's and women's swimming and diving teams have done everything they can to prepare for the final stretch. The dual meet season wrapped up last weekend with losses for both teams at Case Western Reserve, dropping the Tiger men to 6-4 on the season and the women to 4-5-1. Both were 7-4 a year ago under eventual NCAC Coach of the Year Bob Rueppel

The scores were deceiving, however, as some of the season's best times were posted for the Tigers on both the men's and women's side of the board.

The women were defeated in 12 of 13 events, while the men fared a fraction better with first place swims in 10 of 13 events. The lone winner on the women's side was sophomore Courtney Galliger (Eagan, Minn./Eagan), who took first place by a full three seconds in the 100-yard backstroke.

For the men, sophomore Alex Berger (Findlay, Ohio/Findlay) narrowly won the 100 breaststroke by .03. Sophomore Steve Rader (Painesville, Ohio/St. Ignatius)finished first in the 100 butterfly. And the foursome of Rader, sophomore Matt Werbach (Painesville, Ohio/Hawken), sophomore Scott Olmsted (Castle Rock, Colo./Cherry Creek) and senior Bob Rafferty (Mt. Vernon, Ohio/Mt. Vernon) took first in the 200 freestyle relay, posting not only the fastest time of the meet, but also the fastest time the Tigers have seen this season.

Several women posted notable swims. Senior Elizabeth Bradley (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) cruised to a personal best in the 1,000 free with a time of 11:01.06, good for second place.

Senior Melissa Beck (Williamsville, N.Y./Carmell (Ind.)) captured a pair of second place finishes for the Tigers in the 200 Individual Medley and the 100 back. Sophomore Nicole Kinzeler (Centerville, Ohio/Kettering Alter) tagged a season-best time and a second place finish in the 100 free. Senior Carolyn Scaia (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway North) also had a season-best time in the 100 fly. Galliger took second in the 50 free, followed closely by sophomore Jessica Forsberg (Wickliffe, Ohio/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) in the same event.

Diving for the women, sophomore Jennifer Ingwalson (Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Highland) took second in the 1-meter competition, while sophomore Jamie Cook (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral) too third on the same board. In the 3-meter competition, sophomore Holly Erikson (St. Paul, Minn./Central) finished third.

Back to the men, sophomore Brandon Morris (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville)posted his best time in the 1,000 free and took second place. Morris, was followed by sophomore Jon Bradley (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne), who finished fourth in the same event. Senior Jeremy Lazarus (Moens, France/Ferney-Voltaire) took second place in the 200 IM, while Rader had the same finish in the 500-yard freestyle.

In an interesting finish, Morris and sophomore Kyle Dunaway (Warren, Ohio/Howland) tied for fourth place in the 500-yard freestyle. Rafferty chipped in with two individual third-place finishes with season-best swims in both the 100 and 200 free. Sophomore Paul Miller (Middletown, Ohio/Middletown) also posted a season-best time in the 100 breaststroke.

 Next: 2/14-16 @ NCAC Championships - Canton, Ohio