Matt Erenpreiss
GAMBIER, Ohio — The Wittenberg men's and women's swimming and diving teams each took fourth place at the North Coast Athletic Conference Relays held Saturday at Kenyon College and Denison University, the first event of the 2009-10 season.
I thought both teams finished with solid performances in all of the events," Head Swimming and Diving Coach Natalie Koukis said. "The relays not only gave us a great starting point, but also provided feedback about where we are in our training and performance, as well as motivation to reach our goals in those areas."
The men took second place in both the one-meter and three-meter events, thanks to standout performances from senior Matt Erenpreiss (Columbus, Ohio/Centennial) and sophomore Gus Appenbrick (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley). Erenpreiss earned the second-highest score of the meet in men's individual diving with a 235.25 on the three-meter board.
One men's trio took seventh place in the 1500-meter freestyle relay among a 20-team field to highlight the swimming portion. The 'A' squad, consisting of junior Chris Culkin (Novi, Mich./Northville), freshman Sam Archibald (Darien, Conn./Darien) and senior Neil Anderson (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood) finished the event with a time of 15:04.48.
The women's team found success in both the diving well and the lanes. Junior Megan Shubitowski (Columbus, Ohio/Watterson) and freshman Katie Reed (Cincinnati, Ohio/Northmont) teamed up for third place in the three-meter diving competition, while the swimming events returned three sixth place or better finishes.
Sophomore Rachel Lee (Hickory, N.C./Hickory), freshman Rachel Nuzzo (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor), junior Katie Sbrocco (Highland Heights, Ohio/Mayfield) and sophomore Megan Tassone (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline) combined for a 2:15.40 finish in the 200-yard breaststroke relay, good for sixth place. A crew consisting of senior Janna House (St. Thomas, Ontario/Central Elgin Collegiate Institute), sophomore Sinjin McNicholl (Indianapolis, Ind./Ben Davis), sophomore Cecilia Wille (Knoxville, Tenn./Farragut) and sophomore Keaton Hannon (Peachtree City, Ga./McIntosh) earned fifth in the 200-yard butterfly event with a 1:50.90 time, and House, Tassone, Lee and Hannon together produced another fifth place finish in the 4x100 individual medley with a time of 4:19.50.
Both the men and women are back in action on Friday, Oct. 30, with a dual meet at Ohio Wesleyan, slated to begin at 6 p.m.