Matt Higbee
CANTON, Ohio - Wittenberg swimming and diving capped off an unprecedented weekend in the NCAC Championships with the men taking their highest finish in program history with their third place finish, while the women ended the meet in fifth. With records falling and NCAA cuts coming with previously unseen regularity, the Tigers lived up to the high billing with their NCAC finish.
The men capped their historic run with the same production that had propeled them to heralded victories over Wabash and Wooster in the dual meet season. This time, when the stakes grew larger, the Tigers stepped up with more NCAA 'B' cuts, school records, and clutch performances to keep all pursuers at bay.
The day began with sophomore Chris Culkin (Novi, Mich./ Northville) taking charge in the 1650 freestyle, taking tenth place overall and setting the stage for the Tiger sprints. Fellow second-year Matt Higbee (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) followed up with a 'B' cut in the 200 back to take the ninth place honor.
Freshman Tom Lillard (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) added a 14th place finish in the 200 breast as the top Tiger finisher, one of three to claim points in the event. Neil Anderson (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood) then took the team on his back in the final stretch, scoring a 'B' cut in the 200 fly in a ninth place finish before helping the 400 free relay to another 'B' cut to solidify the third place team finish.
The Tiger women began the day in a three-team fight for the coveted third spot, and the day began well with a trio of Tigers scoring in the opening 1650 race. Rachel Lee (Hickory, N.C./Hickory) headlined the effort with a time of 18:33.00.
Following up on the opening successes, the Tigers received their highlight of the day when Adeline Brym (Mansfield, Ohio/Lexington) hit an NCAA automatic 'A' cut in the 200 back with a time of 2:04.05. Her second place finish added an All-NCAC honor to her resume. Cecilia Wille (Knoxville, Tenn./Farragut) added a 13th place finish in the 100 free one event later to keep the Tigers within striking distance of the top three spot.
Keaton Hannon (Peachtree City, Ga./McIntosh) capped off a tremendous first NCAC Championships with a 2:10.42 in the 200 fly to take 10th and head the Wittenberg finishers in the event. Wille and Brym joined Kristin Elber (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) and Janna House (St. Thomas, Ontario/Central Elgin Collegiate Institute) capped off the evening with a fifth place 400 relay.
With the conference championships wrapped up, the Tigers now wait to see how their NCAA cuts fare with the possibility of the largest contingent of Tigers in the NCAA Division III national meet in program history. An additional opportunity to qualify also comes on Saturday, Feb. 21 at the Last Chance Meet hosted by Kenyon College.