GAMBIER, Ohio — The whole point of a "last chance meet" is for collegiate student-athletes to achieve more, to improve their marks of the regular season and enhance their chances of reaching a national championship event. Wittenberg sophomore Neil Anderson (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood) did just that Saturday, bettering his NCAA B Cut time in the 500-yard freestyle to highlight a strong team performance at the Kenyon Invitational.
Anderson's time of 4:36.37 was good for second place, but more importantly it possibly earned him a position in the NCAA Division III Championship meet at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. The icing on the cake is the fact that he broke the school record previously held by three-time All-American Steve Rader.
There were other strong Wittenberg finishes individually as well. Among them were a pair of fourth-place finishes by freshman Matt Higbee (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington), a pair of thirds for senior Kaitlin Clark (Wakeman, Ohio/Firelands) and a first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle by Anderson in an NCAA B Cut time of 1:41.89.
Anderson, sophomore Taylor Smith (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) and sophomore Adeline Brym (Mansfield, Ohio/Lexington) all have recorded NCAA B Cut times in the 2007-08 season. They now must wait a week before all results are recorded and invitations are determined to the national events. Wooster is the host team for the women's meet March 13-15 and the men's meet March 20-22.