Nick Pierson
The Wittenberg men's and women's swimming and diving teams are on the final leg of a very long relay event - the marathon that is the annual collegiate regular season. The Tigers put the finishing touches on the 2005-06 dual meet campaign this weekend with a home event against NCAA Division I Wright State on Friday and then a road dual against NCAA Division III national powerhouse Case Western Reserve on Saturday.
The Tigers split a home dual with Ohio Northern last Friday, defeating the Polar Bears handily on the women's side but losing to one of the top teams in the Ohio Athletic Conference in the men's competition, 116-111. Then on Saturday, Wittenberg's men lost another heartbreaker, this time to Transylvania, 122-114, in addition to a decisive setback against Emory in a meet hosted by the University of Kentucky. The Tiger women improved their dual meet record to 9-2 with a win over Transylvania but a loss to Emory, which won the national title a year ago.
For the women, sophomore Lindsay Smith (Mount Vernon, Ohio/Mount Vernon), sophomore Courtney Roth (Gurnee, Ill./Lake Forest) and senior Betany Yeakley (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) were all double-winners against Ohio Northern as the Tigers captured first place in 12 of the 14 events.
In the meet against Transylvania and Emory, the highlight was provided by senior Becca Searcy (Shelbyville, Ky./Shelby County), who earned an NCAA B Cut in the 1650-yard freestyle. A three-time NCAA Division III Championships qualifier, Searcy is hoping to improve upon her performance in the national meet each of the last three years, which resulted in five honorable mention All-America designations.
For the men, junior Cody Nicely (Knoxville, Tenn./Bearden) took a pair of firsts against Ohio Northern and Transylvania. He and Roth, who also defeated all opponents from ONU and Transylvania, were unbeaten in dual meet diving competitions before finally losing to Emory on Saturday. Sophomore Nick Pierson (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) and sophomore Ryan Schramm (Cincinnati, Ohio/Roger Bacon) were both individual winners in the meet against ONU.
After this weekend's dual meets, the Tigers have a week off to prep for the annual North Coast Athletic Conference championship meet Feb. 9-11 in Canton, Ohio. The Wittenberg women have been fourth in the meet the last three years, while the Tiger men slipped to sixth place a year ago.
Next: 1/27 vs. Wright State
1/28 @ Case Western