The Wittenberg swimming and diving teams travelled to the University of Kentucky last Saturday and turned in another strong performance in a tri-meet with NCAA Division III powerhouses Emory and Transylvania. Both the men's and women's teams were defeated by Emory, which is a top five team nationally, but scored enough points to defeat Transylvania.
What was encouraging, beyond competing well for a second straight week against one of the finest teams in Division III swimming and diving, was a string a quality performances by almost every athlete on the Wittenberg teams. Several swimmers finished their events with season-best times, led by senior All-AmericanRachel Juergens (Springfield, Ohio/Catholic Central).
Juergens, who broke several school records last season and
finishedfifth in the nation in the 1650-yard freestyle in a record
time of 17:13.26,raced well
in the same event on Saturday and recorded an NCAA Division III B
StandardCut qualifying time of 17:40.23. That time was faster than
her time atthe same point a year ago.
Her performance came on the heels of a school-record time of 4:42.55 inthe 400 Individual Medley set a week earlier. Against Emory and Transylvania,she showed off that same versatility by placing in the 400 IM and the 200backstroke.
Also swimming well over the weekend was senior Elizabeth Bradley(Columbus, Ohio/Worthington Kilbourne), who turned in a season-best time of 18:28.24 in the 1650 free. She also showed her versatility and endurance by turning in fine times in the 400 IM and 500 free.
In addition, the women's 400 medley relay turned in one of its best times of the year with sophomore Courtney Galliger (Eagan, Minn./Eagan)doing the backstroke, senior Paula Hauser (Mason, Ohio/Mt. Notre Dame) doing the breaststroke, senior Betsy Godin (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown) doing the butterfly and sophomore Jessica Forsberg (Wickliffe, Ohio/NotreDame Cathedral Latin) doing the freestyle. Galliger also turned in strong times of 25.50 in the 50 free and 56.51 in the 100 free. Godin had a season-best time of 2:20.88 in the 200 fly and was part of the 400 free relay that nearly posted a season best. Hauser, an Honorable Mention All-American a year ago, was also involved in the 400 free relay and had a season-best time in the 200 breaststroke of 2:31.36. She was joined in the relays by sophomore Nicole Kinzeler(Centerville, Ohio/Kettering Alter) and seniorMelissa Beck (Williamsville,N.Y./Carmel (Ind.)).
That wasn't all for the women's team. Kinzeler turned in good times in the 200 and 500 free events, while Hauser showed that she is rounding into form again this year with a season-best time of 2:31.36. Forsberg went a lifetime-best of 58.55 in the 100 free, and freshman Meghan Jewett (Batavia, Ohio/McNicholas) had a season-best in the 200 back in 2:22.90.
On the men's side, the 400 medley relay posted a season-best time of3:43.22. Sophomores Steve Rader (Painesville, Ohio/Cleveland St. Ignatius),Alex Berger (Findlay, Ohio/Findlay) and Matt Werbach (Painesville,Ohio/Hawken) and seniorBob Rafferty (Mt. Vernon, Ohio/Mt. Vernon)swam the back, breast, fly and free respectively.
The 400 free relay of Rader, Werbach, Rafferty and sophomore Scott Olmsted (Castle Rock, Colo./Cherry Creek) nearly posted a season-best time as well.
Individually, Berger went 51.28 in the 100 free for one of his best of the season. And sophomore Brandon Morris (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) went a season-best 17:38.52 in the 1650 free.
Next: 2/2 @ Case Western Reserve, 2 p.m.