Loeffert's Dive Paces Gators at Day 2

Feb 15, 2008

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CANTON, Ohio – A Jayson Loeffert (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) first-place finish on the three-meter diving board paced the Gators at the second day of the North Coast Athletic Conference championships, hosted at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio. Allegheny saw its 200-yard medley relay team take third place overall, with that relay and an individual time by Erin Ham (Franklin, Pa./Franklin Area) in the 100-yard breaststroke just missing NCAA “B” qualifying marks.

The Gator women are currently sitting in fourth place overall with 477.5 points, just a slim 25 points from third-place Wooster (502.5). Kenyon (1,099) and Denison (1,044) pace the field with Oberlin (398), Wittenberg (387), Hiram (309) and Ohio Wesleyan (291) chasing behind.

On the men’s side the Gators are in sixth place in the nine-team field with 306 points, and chase Wittenberg with 497 points and Wooster with 463. Kenyon leads the field with 1,112 points, with Denison and Wabash chasing the multiple-time national champions with 1,076 and 689 points, respectively. Following Allegheny in the standings are Hiram (285), Ohio Wesleyan (273) and Oberlin (246).

The Gators started strong, taking their third consecutive third-place relay finish, this one in the 200-yard medley relay. The team of Carolyn Nairn (Denver, Colo./Brownell-Talbot, Neb.), Ham, Katie Scherry (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River) and Ashley Whitehead (Meadville, Pa./Meadville Area) swam a season-best time of 1:50.42, out-distancing fourth place by nearly a second and a half, and missing the “B” cut for nationals by just over a second and earning the quartet All-NCAC honors.

Rachelle Barrett (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield Area) took 16th in the 400 individual medley, setting a new personal best, while Rachel Dingman (Milford, Pa./Delaware Valley) and Emily Magoc (Natrona Heights, Pa./Highlands) finished 20th and 22nd, Magoc swimming to a season-best time.

The Gators had six swimmers compete in the 100 butterfly, and were led by an 11th and 12th place finish from Scherry and Meg Hiestand (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights), swimming a 1:00.33 and 1:00.94, respectively. Megan McGuire (Pittsburgh, Pa./Oakland Catholic) took 16th overall in a time of 1:01.79, with Alycia Conway (Lyndhurst, Ohio/Gilmour Academy) taking 19th in a time of 1:02.76, a personal best. Dingman and Whitehead rounded out the Gators in the field with times of 1:04.99 and 1:05.48, placing 23rd and 24th.

Megan Knox (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) led the Gators in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:59.30, taking 12th overall, with Arielle Conti (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) (15th, 2:01.51), Molly Hanlon (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon Area) (21st, 2:04.47) and Gina Major (Copley, Ohio/Copley) (22nd, 2:04.69) also scoring for the Blue and Gold.

Ham took sixth in the 100 breaststroke, improving on her top time of the season set earlier with a 1:07.77, a time that is just .18 from the NCAA Division III “B” mark. Teammate Alynn Maginness (Darlington, Pa./Blackhawk) placed 16th in the same event, touching the wall in a time of 1:14.26. Nairn continued her strong meet, taking 11th in the 100 backstroke in a time of 1:02.36, with Kelly Marker (Orinda, Calif./Miramonte) placing 18th in a time of 1:07.34.

The 800 free relay team of Scherry, Conti, Hiestand and Knox took sixth overall in a time of 8:05.97 to end the competition on the women’s side of the pool.

Senior diver Loeffert picked up top honors on the three-meter board, as his total of 459.00 was 50.65 points higher than his competitor on the high board, and he becomes the first athlete from a non-Denison or Kenyon team to take home an individual title over the weekend.

In the men’s 200 medley relay, the team of Cory Monroy (Goleta, Calif./Dos Pueblos), Josh Sesek (Pittsburgh, Pa./Brentwood), Ryan Lawrence (Union City, Pa./Union city) and Colin Gundling (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) narrowly missed an all-conference finish, taking fourth in a time of 1:38.16, the fastest time swam by a Gator relay team in the event this season.

The men’s 400 individual medley saw Allegheny take 21st and 24th, when Ashton Kinney (Sewickley, Pa./Sewickley Academy) swam to a season-best time of 4:27.54, and Patrick Juber narrowly missed his season-best in a time of 4:38.09. The 100 butterfly duo of Rob Schreiner (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) and Gundling placed 21st in a time of 54.43 and 22nd in 54.62, each.

After his relay leg, Lawrence took 12th in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:45.73, a personal best by nearly a second and a half, with Beau Whiteman (Erie, Pa./Harbor Creek) and Adam Gailey (Beaver, Pa./Beaver Area) placing 18th and 23rd in times of 1:49.20 and 1:55.32, each new personal bests.

Sesek also swam well after his strong relay leg, picking up the top individual finish by a Gator swimmer on the day, placing 11th in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:00.41, while classmate Alex Smith (DuBois, Pa./DuBois Area) topped his personal best by over a second with a time of 1:04.13 in the same event. Monroy placed 22nd overall in the 100 backstroke in a time of 56.81 to round out the male swimming individual races for the day.

The men’s 800 free relay ended the day with an eighth place finish, as the team of Schreiner, Whiteman, Gundling and Kinney touched the wall in a time of 7:18.81.

The Gators will take to the pool one last time for the weekend on Saturday, when they will compete in the third and final day of the league championships.

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