ADA, Ohio - The Wittenberg men's and women's swimming and diving teams split with Ohio Northern in the final dual meet of the first half of the 2008-09 season. The Tiger women picked up a comfortable 135-108 victory over the aptly named Polar Bears on an abnormally frigid November night, but the Tiger men couldn't keep pace, falling by a 128-115 count to a deep ONU squad.
On the women's side, the Tigers picked up wins in the 200-yard medley relay, which included junior Adeline Brym (Mansfield, Ohio/Lexington), freshman Megan Tassone (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline), freshman Keaton Hannon (Peachtree City, Ga./McIntosh) and junior Kristin Elber (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick), freshman Rachel Lee (Hickory, N.C./Hickory) in the 1,000 freestyle and 100 backstroke, Brym in the 200 and 500 free, freshman Cecilia Wille (Knoxville, Tenn./Farragut) in the 50 and 100 free, Hannon in the 200 Individual Medley and 100 butterfly, and the 200 free relay, which included Wille, freshman Sinjin McNicholl (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis), junior Janna House (St. Thomas, Ontario/Central Elgin Collegiate Institute) and Elber.
For the men, junior Neil Anderson (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood) took the top spot in the 200 and 500 free, sophomore Phil Bambach (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome) won the 200 IM, and sophomore Zach Stewart (Vincennes, Ind./Lincoln) finished first in the 100 fly. Rounding things out, the 200 free relay quartet of sophomore Matt Higbee (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington), senior Andy Bates (Lawrenceburg, Ind./East Central), junior Bobby Ritzi (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek) and junior Taylor Smith (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) touched the wall first.
The first half of the 2008-09 season wraps up with a trip to Indiana Dec. 5-6. The swimmers are at the DePauw Invitational, while the divers will compete in the Wabash Invitational.