Nick Pierson
CANTON, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers staged a rally on Friday on Day 2 of the 2008 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) championships at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio. The Tiger men moved past arch-rival Wooster into fourth place with 521 team points, while the Tiger women improved their standing by one as well, moving into sixth place with 411 points, just 14 behind Oberlin for fifth place.
Of just as much significance, the Tigers continued to post outstanding individual times, including three NCAA B Cuts (to go along with three achieved on Thursday) and a meet-best third-place finish for the women's 800-meter freestyle relay, bringing with it All-NCAC awards for the four swimmers involved.
The All-NCAC relay was the final event of the night, and it sent the Tigers out on a very positive note. The foursome of senior Kaitlin Clark (Wakeman, Ohio/Firelands), sophomore Janna House (St. Thomas, Ontario/Central Elgin Collegiate Institute), sophomore Kristin Elber (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) and sophomore Adeline Brym (Mansfield, Ohio/Lexington) touched the wall in 7:57.12.
For Brym, that capped another fine all-around day, which included a pair of NCAA B Cuts to go along with the one she posted yesterday. Her time of 59.68 in the 100-yard backstroke was good for a provisional qualifying standard and fifth place in a stacked event. That NCAA B Cut followed Brym's provisional qualifying standard in the 200-yard freestyle. She placed fourth in that event in 1:55.76.
Rounding out the Tigers' NCAA B Cuts for the day, sophomore Taylor Smith (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) nearly matched his qualifying time from Thursday in the 100-yard backstroke. He placed fifth in the event with a time of 52.01. Not far behind was freshman Matt Higbee (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington), who took seventh in the event with a time of 53.40.
The Tigers had two other swimmers and one diver reach the top eight, starting with sophomore Matt Erenpreiss (Columbus, Ohio/Centennial), who placed sixth in the 3-meter diving event. He moved up two places after the preliminary round to post his best career NCAC finish. Erenpreiss placed ninth in the 1-meter diving event on Thursday.
In addition, sophomore Neil Anderson (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood) placed fifth in the 200-yard freestyle and freshman Katie Sbrocco (Highland Heights, Ohio/Mayfield) added a seventh in the 100-yard breaststroke. Senior Brian Harris (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) chipped in with a 10th-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly.