Tigers Lose To Denison At Home In The Winter Stretch Opener

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.

January 21, 2003

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.