The Wittenberg men's and women's swimming and diving teams wrapped up the 2005-06 season at the Kenyon Invitational last weekend after turning in the best overall team performance in school history at the 2006 North Coast Athletic Conference championships Feb. 9-11 in Canton, Ohio.

The season has ended for all of the Tiger swimmers except one - senior Becca Searcy (Shelbyville, Ky./Shelby County). For the fourth straight year, Searcy has earned a spot in the NCAA Division III Championships, which are scheduled for this year for March 9-11 in Minneapolis, Minn. Searcy, who has five honorable mention All-America awards in her career, became just the fourth female Wittenberg swimmer to reach the national meet all four years of her career when she placed second in the 1,650-yard freestyle at the NCAC Championships in a time of 17:20.75. The time was good for an automatic berth in the national meet, and it remains sixth in the pre-meet seeding.

Searcy will likely swim in two other events - the 500-yard freestyle and the 400-yard Individual Medley - at the NCAA meet.

On the down side, senior Betany Yeakley (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) recorded two NCAA provisional qualifying times, but for a third straight year she did not merit selection to the national meet.

For the second straight year, no Tiger men's swimmers or divers qualified for the national meet, even though the team put together a strong fifth-place finish in the NCAC meet. Most of the Tigers' top competitors in 2005-06 were underclassmen, buoying hopes for a return to the national meet as soon as next season.

Next: 3/9-11 NCAA Women's Championships
@ University of Minnesota