Men Post Strong Finishes At NCAC Championship Meet

The Wittenberg men's and women's swimming and diving teams posted extremely strong finishes at the North Coast Athletic Conference championship meet last week at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio.

February 19, 2002

Steve Rader

The Wittenberg men's and women's swimming and diving teams posted extremely strong finishes at the North Coast Athletic Conference championship meet last week at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio. Competing in the toughest NCAA Division III swimming and diving conference in the nation, the Tiger women finished behind defending conference medalist Kenyon, defending national champion Denison and perennial national title contender Wooster. The Tiger men, competing with just 13 team members, had a solid finish behind defending national champion Kenyon, last year's national No. 2 team Denison and perennial contender Wabash. 

The meet - which Head Coach Leslie Ramsey termed "outstanding" - was highlighted by the performances by seniorRachel Juergens (Springfield, Ohio/Catholic Central) and sophomore Steve Rader (Painesville, Ohio/ClevelandSt. Ignatius), both of whom are almost assured of qualifying for the NCAA Division III championship meet for a second straight year. In addition, of 86 times recorded by Wittenberg swimmers, 59 of them were lifetime bests- with dozens of times dropping by several seconds.  

Juergens continued her outstanding final collegiate season by finishing in the top 10 in each of her individual events. Included among those fine performances was a fifth-place finish in the 400-yard Individual Medley in a school-record time of 4:38.85, a time which has her provisionally qualified for the NCAA Division III championship meet scheduled for next month at Miami University. In the 1650 freestyle she made an NCAA National automatic cut with a time of 17:24 and a third-place finish, and in the 500 free she wound up with another provisional or "B" cut time of 5:04.21. 

Rader captured a first place finish in the 200 IM and was the only Tiger swimmer to be an individual conference champion. In addition, Rader finished second in the 100 butterfly and fourth in the 200 butterfly. He posted NCAA "B" cut times in the 200 IM and 100 butterfly, which will qualify him for the NCAA National Championships to be held next month at Miami University. 

Paula Hauser (Mason, Ohio/Mt. Notre Dame) finished sixth in the 200 breaststroke seventh in the 100 breaststroke. Her efforts in the 200 breast earned her an NCAA "B" cut. Senior Melissa Beck (Williamsville,N.Y./Carmel (Ind.)) was close behind Hauser with an 11th place finish in the 100 fly and a 13th place finish in the 200 fly. 

Sophomore Nicole Kinzeler (Centerville, Ohio/Kettering Alter)turned in top marks for the Tigers in the 100 backstroke, finishing ninth overall. Kinzeler also posted an 11th place finish in the 200 free anda 19th place finish in the 50 free. For the backstroke events, sophomoreJessica Forsberg (Wickliffe, Ohio/Notre Dame Cathedral Latin) took 13th in the 100 and 17th in the 200. 

Courtney Galliger (Eagan, Minn./Eagan) also fared well in backstroke,coming in 10th in the 100 back and 17th in the 100 free. Betsy Godin(Downington, Pa./Downingtown) led the women in the butterfly eventswith a 12th in the 200 and 14th in the 100. 

Elizabeth Bradley (Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne)made impressive strides in the distance events. Bradley turned in an 11th place in the 1650 freestyle, 14th in the 400 IM and 15th in 500 freestyle. FreshmanAnneOverly (Kalamazoo, Mich./Portage Northern) stepped up close behind Hauser in the breaststroke events, by finishing 13th in the 200 and 16thin the 100. 

In 1-meter diving, sophomore Jennifer Ingwalson (Lake Mary, Fla./Lake Highland) finished eighth. On the 3-meter, juniorAshley Tipple (Columbus, Ohio/Grandview) finished 10th and sophomore Holly Erikson(St. Paul, Minn./Central) placed 12th. 

Back on the men's side, senior Jeremy Lazarus (Moens, France/Ferney-Voltaire)finished fifth in the 100 breast, eighth in the 200 breast, and 14th in the 200 IM. Lazarus, a national qualifier a year ago, made an NCAA "B" cut in the 100 breast, which could qualify him for the NCAA meet. 

Sophomore Alex Berger (Findlay, Ohio/Findlay) finished fourthin the 100 breast, in addition to 10th place finish in the 200 breast and a 15th place finish in the 100 free. 

Senior captain Bob Rafferty (Mt. Vernon, Ohio/Mt. Vernon)took home a pair of 10th place finishes for the Tigers in the 50 and 200 free events. He also placed 12th in the 100 free. 

Kyle Dunaway

Sophomore Kyle Dunaway (Warren, Ohio/Howland) finished 11th in the 400 IM and 12th in the 200 fly, sophomore Scott Olmsted (Castle Rock, Colo./Cherry Creek) took 18th in the 100 free, and 17th in the 50 free and sophomore Matt Werbach (Painesville, Ohio/Hawken) finished 16th in the 100 back and 17th in the 100 free. 

Sophomore Brandon Morris (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) lead the distance events for the Tigers. He finished 10th in the 1650 free, 15th in the 500 free and 14th in the 400 IM, sophomore Jon Bradley (Columbus,Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne) picked up a pair of 15th place finishes in the 500 free and 200 free and junior Josh Schnacke (Bowling Green,Ky./Bowling Green) finished 13th in the 100 butterfly. 

Next: 2/23 @ Case Western Reserve