Courtney Roth
The Wittenberg men's and women's swimming and diving teams have
reached the big moment, and after three meets in the last two weeks
as primers, first-year Head Coach Natalie Koukis has high hopes
that the Tigers are ready to make a big splash at the North Coast
Athletic Conference championship meet in Canton, Ohio, Feb.
10-12.
The dual meet season concluded with meets against Ohio Northern at
home on Jan. 21, Wright State on the road on Jan. 28 and Case
Western Reserve at home on Jan. 29. The men beat ONU but lost the
last two for a 6-6 finish to the 2004-05 dual meet season. The
women beat ONU and CWRU and lost to NCAA Division I Wright State to
cap their duals campaign at 8-3 overall. For the women, the strong
finish in the dual meets buoyed hopes for an equally strong finish
in the conference championship meet, which will feature three of
the top 10 teams in the nation in Kenyon, Denison and Wooster. The
Tigers have been slowly making up ground on the league's
heavy-hitters in recent years, including a school-record point
total in 2004 en route to a fourth-place finish.
Against Ohio Northern, the Tiger women won 129-98 as sophomore
Katie Spittler (Lexington, Ky./Catholic), junior
Becca Searcy (Shelbyville, Ky./Shelby County),
sophomore Shantel Sechrist (Saltsburg,
Pa./Saltsburg), freshman Kaitlin Clark (Wakeman,
Ohio/Firelands), freshman Courtney Roth (Gurnee,
Ill./Lake Forest), sophomore Colleen Costigan
(Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston), sophomore Jen
Mulligan (Cheyney, Pa./Delaware Valley Friends), junior
Leslie Banas (Huntington Woods, Mich./Mercy) and
junior Amy Conner (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville)
all claimed individual victories.
Against Wright State, Searcy won three times, including the
1650-yard freestyle in which she posted an NCAA B Cut time, while
junior Betany Yeakley (Wilmington,
Ohio/Wilmington) also claimed an individual first.
Rounding things out, Searcy was good for three more wins in a
137-101 victory over Case Western. She was joined in the winners'
circle by freshman Lindsay Smith (Mount Vernon, Ohio/Mount
Vernon) and Roth with two wins and Yeakley and Conner with
single victories.
For the men, there was a 129-105 win over Ohio Northern, followed
by a pair of fairly decisive losses. Still, there were plenty of
individual highlights, starting with two individual wins apiece
against ONU by sophomores Matt Reiss (Beavercreek,
Ohio/Dayton Carroll) and Cody Nicely (Knoxville,
Tenn./Bearden). Also touching the wall first were
sophomore Sean Wolf (White Lake, Mich./Walled Lake
Central), freshman Brian Harris (Harrisonburg,
Va./Harrisonburg) and senior Jonathan Newcomer
(Valencia, Pa./Mars Area).
After getting shut out against Wright State, the Tigers rebounded
with individual victories from senior Blake Troxel
(Bluffton, Ind./Norwell), freshman Corey Schramm
(Cincinnati, Ohio/Roger Bacon) and freshman Ryan
Schramm (Cincinnati, Ohio/Roger Bacon).
Next: 2/10-12 @ NCAC Championships