Wittenberg had their share of first, second and third place points at Kenyon College Friday night, but the depth of the Lord and Ladies swimming teams gave them the edge to pull a victory over the Tigers.
The twenty-time NCAA national championship winning Lords pulled a victory over Wittenbergs men with a score 123-94, the seventeen-time NCAA national championship winning Ladies edged the Lady Tigers 122-98. Wittenbergs men were able to take four first place finishes, six second place finishes and a three third place finishes. The women brought in four first place finishes, seven second place finishes and a pair of third place finishes.
Team Captain Aaron Edsall brought in a pair of first place finishes for the Tigers. Edsall finished first in both the 200-yard freestyle and 200 backstroke. Alex Berger also gave the Tigers first place points by out-touching Kenyon College in the 200 breaststroke. Berger also finished second in the 50 freestyle. Steve Rader scored the blue ribbon in the 200 butterfly and took second in the 200 freestyle.
Eric Jones efforts turned in two second place finishes in the 200 IM and 200 backstroke. Matt Werbach and Joshua Schancke took third place points in the 100 freestyle and 50 freestyle respectively.
The 400 medley relay team of Edsall, Rader, Jeremy Lazarus and Bob Rafferty took second place, while the team of Jones, Berger, Schancke and Kyle Dunaway took third in the same event.
Werbach, Dunaway, Jon Bradley, and Brian Hillman finished second in the 400 freestyle relay, and Joe Dyer, Scott Olmsted, Jason Hill, and Mickey Bullock finished third.
Diving on the 1-meter board for the Tigers was Jay Cross. Cross took first place with a score of 125.78.
Its not everyday that you swim National Champions, and certainly not ones who have been winning that title for the past two decades. We swam very well this weekend considering our opponents. All of the races were very close. There was no race that we got blown away in, said Jeremy Lazarus. It is hard to swim fast coming off of our two week Florida training trip, but most people performed well.
The women turned in their best performances in freestyle events. Rachel Juergens took first in the 1650 freestyle and turned in a B qualifying time for NCAA nationals in March. Juergens also finished second in the 500 freestyle. Courtney Paul finished first place in the 50 freestyle, as well as a strong second place in the 100 freestyle to teammate Courtney Galliger who took first in that event.
Junior Paula Hauser gave the women their final fist place finish in the 200 breaststroke. Melissa Beck finished second in both of her individual events, the 200 butterfly and 200 freestyle. Melanie Edsall finished second in the 200 backstroke , while Stephanie Conway finished third in the 200 IM.
The women finished very strong in both the relay events by taking second and third in each. Edsall, Hauser, Beck and Galliger teamed up in the 400 medley relay to take second place and Nicole Kinzeler, Betsy Godin, Jessica Forsberg, and Conway took third in the same event.
In the 400 freestyle relay, Paul, Forsberg, Juergens, and Courtney Smith finished second, while Edsall, Libby Weaver, Becky Barry, and Alicia Freed finished third.
Diving for the women was Holly Erikson and Jennifer Ingwalson. Erikson took third place with a score of 125.40. Ingwalson came in third with 104.10 points.
This weekend was a great way four our team to start second semester, said Paula Hauser. For the most part, the womens team swam the fastest that we have all season. The tough competition the next few weeks will be very good for us because it is going to prepare us for Conference.
The swim team with travel to Dayton on Friday to face off against Division I opponent Wright State and then will swim at home on Saturday against NCAC rival Denison University. Both the mens and womens team now stand with a record of 6-2.