GAMBIER, Ohio - The Wittenberg men's and women's swimming and diving teams did more than just tune up for the 2006-07 season at the North Coast Athletic Conference Relays. The Tigers served notice at the annual season-opening event that they are a force to be reckoned with this season in the always-challenging NCAC.
The Tiger women captured second place in the NCAC Relays, the best finish in school history for either the men's or women's teams. Perhaps outdone - but only by a little - the Tiger men moved up two places from their 2005 finish to take fourth place in the 2006 standings. Kenyon captured first place in the women's competition, while Denison was the leader of the pack on the men's side, followed by Kenyon and Wabash.
For Wittenberg, the meet highlights were provided by the diving relays, which is the total points of the top two finishers for each team combined. The men combined to finish second on both boards and the women combined to finish first on both boards.
The Tigers were strong in the pool as well as their improved depth, in part thanks to an influx of talented newcomers, allowed Wittenberg to compete well with some of the best teams in the nation. The swimming events are scored by the top placing relay from each school. The women's highlights were the 500-yard crescendo relay (third), the 1500 relay (third), the 400 Individual Medley relay (third) and the 200 freestyle relay (third).
For the men, the highlights included the 1500 relay (fourth) and the crescendo relay (fourth).
"For this meet in particular it is really a team effort," said Head Coach Natalie Koukis, the 2006 NCAC Women's Swimming Coach of the Year. "We had a good showing for the first competition of the year, and it got the team fired up and excited to swim fast in our coming dual meets."
The Tigers open dual meet competition at Wooster at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 28. The Tigers and Scots have been neck-and-neck in recent years, battling for position behind perennial national powers Kenyon and Denison in the NCAC standings. This meet is always a good early-season measuring stick for Wittenberg.