Zach Stewart
CANTON, Ohio — The Wittenberg men's and women's swimming and diving teams continued to perform well at the 2009-10 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Championship meet, hosted by Allegheny. Through Day 2 of the annual three-day event, the Tiger men were holding steady in third place behind two of the top teams in the nation, Denison and Kenyon, while the women dropped to fourth by day's end.
While the women's team fell slightly off the pace after leading the annual battle for third place after Day 1, there were several highlights, starting with an All-NCAC performance turned in by the 200-yard medley relay quartet of sophomores Rachel Lee (Hickory, NC/Hickory), Megan Tassone (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline) and Keaton Hannon (Peachtree City, Ga./McIntosh) and senior Janna House (St. Thomas, Ontario/Central Elgin Collegiate Institute). Their time of 1:49.33 was just .06 away from an NCAA B cut.
That was part of another fine day for Hannon, who posted an NCAA B cut in the 100-yard butterfly in the prelims en route to an 11th place finish in the event. Her time of 58.77 in the prelim was .02 under the NCAA provisional qualifying standard in the event.
Senior Adeline Brym (Mansfield, Ohio/Lexington) also strengthened her bid to reach the national championships for a second straight year. A day after earning an NCAA B cut in the 400-yard freestyle relay, Brym added another qualifying standard time in the 200-yard freestyle, as she touched the wall in sixth place with a time of 1:55.86.
Also of note was Tassone's performance in the 100-yard breaststroke. She placed sixth in a time of 1:07.83, less than one-half of a second off the provisional qualifying standard in the event. In addition, Lee took eighth place in the 100-yard backstroke, posting a personal-best time in the prelim of 1:00.21. That time is also less than one-half of a second off an NCAA B cut.
For the men, senior Taylor Smith (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) also took an eighth place finish, this coming in the 100-yard backstroke. His times of 52.46 in the prelim and 52.49 in the final were both good for NCAA B cuts, building upon his provisional standard posted in the 50-yard freestyle on Day 1 of the championships.
The day ended on a high note for the Tigers as the final swimming event of the night produced All-NCAC honors for the 800-yard freestyle relay foursome of junior Zachary Stewart (Vincennes, Ind./Vincennes), freshman J.B. Easley (Cincinnati, Ohio/Seven Hills), sophomore Matt Parker (Delaware, Ohio/Hayes) and senior Neil Anderson (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood). Their time of 7:00.29 was good for third place, although it was more than three seconds off their seed time of 6:57.07, which is good for an NCAA B cut.
Other individual finishes of note were turned in by Anderson (eighth in the 200-yard freestyle), Stewart (10th in the 100-yard butterfly - .11 away from a B cut) and senior Matt Erenpreiss (Columbus, Ohio/Centennial), who took fifth place in the 3-meter diving event, just one spot ahead of sophomore Gus Appenbrink (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) and two ahead of sophomore Liam McDonald (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood).
The women enter Day 3 of the championship 57 points behind Wooster but a solid 77 points ahead of Allegheny. The men are up 19 points on Wabash, 22 on Wooster and 32 on Allegheny in a spirited battle for third place.