Alex Berger
The Wittenberg men's and women's swimming and diving teams put
the wraps on a very busy weekend of outstanding competition with
matching victories over visiting Transylvania on Saturday at the
HPER Center Natatorium. That came on the heels of losses Friday
night at NCAA Division I scholarship program Wright State. The
Tiger men are 5-5 in duals in 2002-03, while the women are 5-4.
Once again, the highlight of the weekend was provided by freshman
Rebecca Searcy (Shelbyville, Ky./Shelby County
Bloomington). A week after setting a pool record in the
400 Individual Medley, Searcy came back with NCAA B cut times in
the 500-yard freestyle and 1,650-yard freestyle. She now has three
B cut times this season in what is increasingly looking like a
solid bid to represent Wittenberg at the NCAA Division III meet in
March.
Two other freshmen women swimmers have continued to show tremendous
improvement throughout the season and are knocking on the door of
the NCAA B cut lists as well. Amy Conner (Noblesville,
Ind./Noblesville) and Betany Yeakley (Wilmington,
Ohio/Wilmington) are both within seconds of several pool
and school records in their respective events. Conner specializes
in the 100 and 200 breaststroke and Yeakley is best in the 100 and
200 backstroke.
On the men's side, junior All-American Steve Rader
(Concord, Ohio/Cleveland St. Ignatius) continues to round
into the outstanding form he showed last year when he
single-handedly put Wittenberg among the top 25 teams in the nation
at the NCAA meet. He is just a fraction off the NCAA qualifying
times in the Individual Medley and butterfly events heading into
the season's stretch run. Hoping to join him in the pool at the
national meet is junior Alex Berger (Findlay,
Ohio/Findlay), who is have an outstanding season in the
100 and 200 breaststroke events.
The final dual meet of the 2002-03 season takes place this weekend
as one of the top teams in the Midwest, Case Western Reserve
University, comes calling on Saturday at the HPER Center. The
Tigers will be honoring their seniors, Josh Schnacke
(Bowling Green, Ky./Bowling Green), Becky Barry
(Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River), Sara Broun
(Cincinnati, Ohio/Mt. Notre Dame), Jana Steiger
(Hamilton, Ohio/Badin) and Ashley Tipple
(Columbus, Ohio/Grandview).
Next: 2/1 vs. Case Western, 1 p.m.