GAMBIER, Ohio - The Wittenberg men's and women's swimming and diving teams opened up the 2007-08 season with a strong performance at the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Relays as both teams finished fifth overall.
The finishes are a good sign for the upcoming season, as the teams compete in one of the strongest conferences in the nation which is home to Kenyon College, the national powerhouse swimming and diving team in Division III. Kenyon has won the last 28 men's national championships Highlights for the Tigers included the 1500-free and 500-crescendo relays for both the men and the women.
In the 1500-yard freestyle relays, both the Tiger men and women took seventh place with their A-squads. The women's relay team consisted of senior Kaitlin Clark (Wakeman, Ohio/Firelands), sophomore Adeline Brym (Mansfield, Ohio/Lexington) and sophomore Emily Roesch (Oakland, Mich./Lake Orion), and the men's was made up of freshman Parker Browning (Cincinnati, Ohio/Turpin), freshman Danny Nicholas (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) and sophomore Neil Anderson (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood).
The 500-yard crescendo relay women's team finished eighth of 29 teams, on the strength of sophomore Janna House (St. Thomas, Ontario/Central Elgin Collegiate Institute), sophomore Kristin Elber (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick), Brym and Clark. The men managed an impressive sixth-place finish from sophomore Taylor Smith (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior), senior Brian Harris (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg), freshman Matt Higbee (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) and Anderson.
The next outing for the teams will be hosted by Wooster in the standard dual-meet format at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27.