The Wittenberg swimming and diving teams will pack up for the conference championships this weekend, and the Wittenberg athletics department staff will be right behind
Springfield, Ohio — The lights will remain on at Wittenberg University's HPER Center this week, but many of the individuals who run the show on a day-to-day basis will take up residence nearly 175 miles away in Canton, Ohio. That is because Wittenberg is hosting the 24th annual North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Swimming and Diving Championships Feb. 14-16 in the Northeast Ohio city.
C.T. Branin Natatorium, on the campus of Canton McKinley High School and right next door to the Professional Football Hall of Fame, is the annual location of the NCAC Championships to accommodate the large crowds that flock to the event each year. The NCAC rotates hosting responsibilities among its member institutions, and this year the responsibility was placed on Wittenberg.
As always, the host Tigers will face a daunting challenge in their climb toward the top of the NCAC mountain, as the Kenyon College Lords and Ladies have dominated the NCAC Swimming & Diving Championships - and the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships - for more than two decades. The two squads are looking to defend their 2007 titles and each have won 22 of the 23 NCAC Crowns. The only interruptions to their amazing streaks have been a Denison men's victory in 1997 and a Denison women's win in 2004.
For Wittenberg, the men's squad is hoping to improve upon last year's fifth place finish. The Tigers posted a 6-5 dual meet record during the 2007-08 season, and they are led by sophomores Neil Anderson (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood) and Taylor Smith (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) and seniors Jeff Smith (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) and Brian Harris (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg). Anderson and Taylor Smith both have times this year that have neared the NCAA B Cut line, the provisional qualifying standard for the 2008 national championship meet.
The Tiger women are hoping to at least duplicate last year's third place finish at the NCAC Championships, which matched the best finish in school history. The Tigers posted a 6-4 dual meet record this season. Leading the way are sophomores Adeline Brym (Mansfield, Ohio/Lexington), Janna House (St. Thomas, Ontario/Central Elgin Collegiate Institute) and Kristin Elber (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick), as well as senior Kaitlin Clark (Wakeman, Ohio/Firelands). All four scored big points for Wittenberg a year ago, and all have aspirations of reaching the national championships in 2008.