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May 13, 2008
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Women 3rd, Men 6th at NCAC's First Day Feb 14, 2008 NCAC Championships Website CANTON, Ohio – After a strong opening morning at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, hosted at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio, the Gators continued their torrid streak, as the women ended the first day in third place overall with 264.5 points, with the men sitting in sixth place with 151 total points.
Denison is pursuing a team upset, and leads 557-to-452 over the 28-time NCAA Division III National Champion Kenyon College Lords. Wabash (304), Wooster (241) and Wittenberg (207) each provide the carrot for the Gator chases, as the Blue and Gold look to hold off Hiram (122), Ohio Wesleyan (121) and Oberlin (114) round out the nine teams in the field. The Gator women started the championships portion of the meet with a bang, taking third in the 200-yard freestyle relay, setting a school record in the process. Ashley Whitehead (Meadville, Pa./Meadville Area), Carolyn Nairn (Denver, Colo./Brownell-Talbot, Neb.), Katie Scherry (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River) and Megan Knox (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) each earned All-NCAC honors, as the group touched the wall in a time of 1:38.45, .45 faster than previous top time swam by an Allegheny team. Swimming in the “B” final heat of the 500 freestyle, Arielle Conti (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) and Megan Knox (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) took 14th and 16th in times of 5:18.88 and 5:23.00, respectively, with Meg Hiestand (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) swimming a season-best time of 4:24.36 en route to a 21st place finish overall. The 200 individual medley quartet of Erin Ham (Franklin, Pa./Franklin Area), Rachelle Barrett (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield Area), Scherry and Alycia Conway (Lyndhurst, Ohio/Gilmour Academy) each placed inside of the top 19 overall, as Ham lead the way with a 12th place finish time of 2:15.06, a career-best for the junior. Barrett was the only swimmer of the quartet not to set a personal best, but placed 17th overall in a time of 2:18.03. Scherry and Conway placed 18th and 19th, touching the wall in times of 2:19.32 and 2:20.41, each, both career bests.
Nairn, Ham, Hiestand and Whitehead then teamed up for the second All-NCAC relay finish of the night for the Gators in the evening’s final event, the 400 Medley Relay. The quartet swam to a time of 4:02.66, just over two seconds from the NCAA “B” qualifying standard. Senior diver Glenna Kramer (Oakdale, Pa./West Allegheny) was neck-in-neck with opponent Samantha Salas of Denison University, eventually falling by the slim margin of 2.9 points, 371.65-368.75, earning another All-NCAC honor for the Blue and Gold. Jayson Loeffert (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) got the meet started on the right foot for the Gators, as he took second on the one-meter diving board, totaling a season-best score of 422.25. His opponent on the low board, Stephen Julka of Denison, topped the Allegheny senior by just 3.05 points.
In the 200 individual medley, sophomore Sesek placed fourth in his heat, and 12th overall, with a time of 1:58.18. Lawrence placed second in the “C” heat of the 50 freestyle in a personal-best time of 22.02, with teammate Gundling taking seventh in the heat and 23rd overall in a time of 22.43. The Gators take to the pool again on Friday morning, with the preliminary in the 200 medley relay set to begin at 10:00 a.m. (photos courtesy of Robert Gantt)
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Kenyon leads the field on the women’s side with 539 points while Denison is close behind with 495. Pursuing the Gators for the third-place finish are Wooster (220.5), Oberlin (186), Ohio Wesleyan (169), Wittenberg (141) and Hiram (115).
The Gators had one swimmer in each of the three finals heats of the 50 freestyle, with Megan McGuire (Pittsburgh, Pa./Oakland Catholic) taking 22nd overall in a time of 25.73, Nairn 11th overall with a career-best time of 25.10, and Whitehead seventh in 24.88.
The men’s squad of Colin Gundling (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional), Ryan Lawrence (Union City, Pa./Union City), Josh Sesek (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brentwood) and Rob Schreiner (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) took sixth in the 200 freestyle relay, finishing in a time of 1:27.51 while Ashton Kinney (Sewickley, Pa./Sewickley Academy) and Beau Whiteman (Erie, Pa./Harbor Creek) each swam to personal bests in the 500 freestyle, placing 23rd and 24th in times of 4:57.16 and 4:58.45, each.
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