Kevin McAninch
The Wittenberg men's and women's swimming and diving teams
continue to swim well against some of the top competition in the
country. Opening up the stretch run of the 2002-03 season, the
Tigers hosted perennial national power Denison on Saturday at the
HPER Center Natatorium. While they lost by wide margins in the team
competitions, both the Tiger men and women turned in some strong
finishes individually.
The women lost 158-84 to fall to 4-3 on the season in dual meets.
The highlight of the meet for the hosts was a pool record time of
4:37 in the 400-yard Individual Medley turned in by freshman
Rebecca Searcy (Shelbyville, Ky./Shelby County
Bloomington). She was the only Tiger swimmer for either
the men or women to win her event.
Also finishing strong for the women were junior Nicole
Kinzeler (Centerville, Ohio/Kettering Alter), who finished
second in the 200 freestyle and junior Nicole Galliger
(Eagan, Minn./Eagan), who claimed runner-up honors in the
50 free.
On the men's side, junior All-American Steve Rader
(Concord, Ohio/Cleveland St. Ignatius) took a pair of
second place finishes, in the 500 free and 100 butterfly. Both
times were among the best by a Tiger swimmer this year. Junior
Matt Werbach (Painesville, Ohio/Hawken) finished
third in the 100 free in a strong time of 51.55. Junior captain
Kyle Dunaway (Warren, Ohio/Howland) added a second
in the 400 IM with a sparkling time of 4:26. And freshman
Kevin McAninch (Canal Winchester, Ohio/Lancaster)
chipped in with his season-best time of 11:05 in the 1,000
free.
The dual meet road gets no easier this week as the Tigers travel to
NCAA Division I Wright State on Friday and then returns home for a
meet against Transylvania on Saturday. Head Coach Leslie Ramsey
remains optimistic that the brutal schedule she put together will
reap dividends as the Tigers compete in the strongest conference
meet in the nation in February.
Next: 1/24 at Wright State, 6 p.m.
1/25 vs. Transylvania, 1 p.m.