Tigers Open 2015-16 Season At NCAC Relay Meet
Wittenberg's men and women both place sixth in season-opening competition.
GAMBIER, Ohio - The Wittenberg Tigers kicked off the 2015-16 season with a road trip to Kenyon for the swimmers and Denison for the divers, all as part of the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Relay Meet.
Wittenberg's men and women both finished sixth in the meet. On the women's side, Denison was the leader with 120 points, followed by Kenyon, Wooster, Oberlin and Ohio Northern to round out the top five. The men's competition went to Kenyon with 124 points, followed by Denison, Ohio Northern, Wooster and Ohio Wesleyan in the top five.
Wittenberg scored 22 points in the women's meet and 38 points in the men meet.
Highlights for Wittenberg included a ninth-place finish for the women's 200-yard backstroke relay, which included junior Amy Schulz (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo), freshman Morgan Siefert (Xenia, Ohio/Xenia), freshman Ashley O'Neill (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport Township) and senior Erin Swardenski (Fremont, Calif./Washington), in a cumulative time of 1:58. Another solid finish was produced by the men's 1500-yard freestyle relay, which included freshman Sam Bott (Des Moines, Iowa/Dowling), senior Steve Stuthers (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) and freshman Collin Taylor (Ann Arbor, Mich./Dexter) in a cumulative time of 15:22.
Also of note was the finish of a mixed 200-yard medley relay made up of Stuthers and junior Kyle Smith (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) from the men's team and senior Madeline Kraft (Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Cape Elizabeth) and Schulz from the women's team. They combined to touch the wall in 1:46.
In the diving well, sophomore Kaitlyn Black (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) was solid for the Tiger women with 189.45 in the 1-meter competition and 208.85 in the 3-meter competition. The tandem of freshman Willie Smith (Goldsboro, NC/Eastern Wayne) and senior Thomas Chuna (Kettering, Ohio/Fairmont) placed fourth in both the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions.
The NCAC Relay Meet served as a final tune-up for the start of the dual meet season.
Written By: Ryan Maurer