2010 OAC Swimming & Diving Championships - Day Three Recap
Ohio Northern won its sixth consecutive men’s title and second consecutive women’s crown as the 2010 Ohio Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championships drew to a close Saturday night in Akron, Ohio.
The six major conference awards were bestowed to Julie Pinter of Baldwin-Wallace (Women’s Diver of the Year), Todd Rickert of Baldwin-Wallace (Men’s Diver of the Year), Rachel Mizner of John Carroll (Women’s Swimmer of the Year), Michael Schultz (Men’s Swimmer of the Year), The Mount Union College coaching staff (Women’s Staff of the Year) and both the John Carroll University and Ohio Northern University coaching staffs (Men’s Staffs of the Year).
Ohio Northern the men’s title with 325 points, followed by JCU with 187. Baldwin-Wallace (159), Mount Union (136) and Wilmington (58) rounded out the field.
On the women’s side, ONU outlasted the field with 256.5 points, followed by Mount Union (224), JCU (217), Baldwin-Wallace (78.5) and Wilmington (72).
Michelle Eggers of Ohio Northern began the competition on Saturday night by winning the grueling women's 1650 Free in a time of 17:52.97. It was the second year in a row for Eggers as champion of the 1650 Free.
In a dominating swim that cemented his third consecutive OAC Swimmer of the Year award, Schultz broke his own OAC record and automatically qualified for the NCAA Division III Championships with a time of 15:45.74.
Julia Adams of John Carroll broke her second OAC record in as many nights with win in Womens 200 Back (2:10.92). Samantha Mossman, also of JCU, tied the old record – set by Lacey Shumate of ONU in 2007 -- placing second (2:10.95).
Ryan Bender of Ohio Northern broke a 26-year-old OAC record with his winning time of 1:54.62 in the Men's 200 Back.
Mizner, who had a win in the 50 Free and a second place finish in the 200 IM, won her second career OAC crown with a swim of 54.70 in the Womens 100 Free. Gabby Parker of Baldwin-Wallace placed second – the best showing by a Yellow Jacket women’s swimmer in the meet.
Alex Vereshchagin of John Carroll was a repeat champion in the men's 100 Free, covering the distance in 46.74 and winning by over a second.
Victoria Ljubi of Mount Union knocked off a two-time champion -- Hanna Bukowy of Ohio Northern – to win the Womens 200 Breast final (2:27.57)
Andrew Keriazes led an Ohio Northern sweep of the top three places in the Men’s 100 Breast (2:08.15); Andy Garlock was 2nd and Jeffrey Zeleznik was 3rd.
The story of the 200 Fly was the Creech family of Wilmington College. Julie Creech outlasted Sarah Noble of Mount Union for the Womens 200 Fly Crown (2:13.00). Brother John then followed his sister as the Men’s 200 Fly champion (1:55.69) – becoming the first brother-sister combo to win same even at same OAC meet in history.
Mary Vallinger of Mount Union won the women's 3-meter diving competition for the third consecutive time, as did Richert in mens 1-meter diving.
The Womens 400 Free Relay was won by the Ohio Northern quartet of Katie Moore, Jillian Huber, Cassandra Fennell, and Mackenzie Hoffman in an OAC record time of 3:39.09.
John Carroll closed the meet with a win in the Mens 400 Free Relay. Eric Davis, Drew Edson, Jimmy Ranallo, and Vereshchagin won in a time of 3:09.97.
