This Week's Outlook: The College of Wooster men's and women's swimming & diving programs kick off the four-day 2018 North Coast Athletic Conference Championships on Wednesday, Feb. 14, at 6:30 p.m. at Denison University's Trumbull Aquatics Center in Granville, Ohio. As one of the premier meets in NCAA Div. III, the action will continue through Saturday, Feb. 17, with preliminary races scheduled for 10 a.m. and finals scheduled for 6:30 p.m. from Thursday, Feb. 15 through Feb. 17.
Media Coverage: Fans can follow Wooster's participation at the NCAC Championships through the available live stream and live stats webpages, as well as through the Tournament Central webpage. Fans can also follow the swimming & diving team's Twitter account @wooswimdive for live updates.
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| Junior Cameron Gelwicks anchored the 400 freestyle relay at last year NCAC Championships, as the team went on to break a 17-year-old school record with a time of 3:05.62. |
Looking at Wooster's Last Outing: In need of a first-place finish in the men's 400-yard freestyle relay to secure the win and veteran head coach Rob Harrington's 200th dual meet win at The College of Wooster, the quartet of junior Ryan Campbell, first-year Wyatt Foss, and juniors Max Koch and Cameron Gelwicks delivered just that with a time of 3:15.79 to complete the sweep by scores of 147-133 (men) and 187-97 (women).
Harrington, now 200-94 in dual meets as the Scots' head coach, saw his squads combine for a 16-5 record this season, including a phenomenal 9-2 showing on the women's side.
2016-17 NCACs: Both sides placed fourth overall as part of a stellar cap to a solid year for Wooster swimming & diving. On the women's side, Harrington picked up NCAC Women's Coach of the Year honors, capping a banner meet that saw his Scots collect three "B" cuts, break three school records, qualify eight individuals in championship heats, and turn in three top-four relays. In fact, Wooster surpassed 1,000 points for the second straight year at the conference championships, with the Scots' 1,064 points ranking as the sixth-highest point haul in women's program history.
On the men's side, the 400-yard freestyle relay sealed the program's first top-four team finish in a decade and set a school record in the process, marking just one of four set by the men during the week. Additionally, the Scots collected three all-conference certificates – including two individual claims – to go along with two "B" cut times.
Sprint Free: Junior Garrett Layde currently holds the best mark of any current Scot in the men's 50 free (21.35), followed closely by classmate Griffin Campbell, who went 21.38 in the prelims at the Wooster Invitational in December, while Emma Fikse holds the top time of any current Scot on the women's side with a top-10 program time of 24.67. In the 100 free, Gelwicks' 46.60 at this season's Wooster Invitational edged Ryan Campbell's personal best of 46.64 set at last year's NCACs. On the women's side, Fikse's 54.16 leads the Scots, followed by first-year Anne Bowers' 54.78.
Looking to the 200 free, Fikse set the school record at last year's NCACs with a "B" cut time of 1:51.89 and comes in with the fast time from schools other than Denison University and Kenyon College. Other current teammates in the program's top 10 included senior Sarah Padrutt, who ranks ninth all-time after turning in a 1:56.90 at last year's conference championships. For the men, Gelwicks' school record of 1:40.81 leads a quartet of top-10 program times from current swimmers, with Ryan Campbell (1:41.63), Koch (1:43.43), and Michael Crookshanks (1:45.40) ranking second, sixth, and 10th all-time in the event.
Distance Free: Similar to the men's 200 free contingent, Wooster's 500 free top 10 consists of three current Scots, led by school-record holder Koch's 4:37.36 set at last year's NCACs. Following Koch are Gelwicks (4:40.16) with the second-fastest time in school history and Ryan Campbell (4:41.90) with the fourth-fastest. Emma Fikse leads the women's side with her school-record 4:59.28 as part of last year's fifth-place showing, and to qualify her as one of only two women in program history to break the five-minute barrier in the event. On top of that, senior Maggie Layde currently holds the eighth-best time in program history at 5:11.05.
In the 1,000 free, Wooster's women hold three of the conference's top-20 fastest times this season, led by Fikse (10:51.69), Padrutt (11:01.30), and Nell Kacmarek (11:01.57). In the 1,650 free, the Scots women logged four top-20 conference times, with the aforementioned three plus Kera Sells (19:00.47). On the men's end, Koch leads the brigade with two respective top-two program times, including a 9:54.01 in the 1,000 and a 16:17.18 in the 1,650, both set at last year's championships.
IM: As for the three individual medley events, including the relatively new 100 IM, Wooster brings a competitive slate, marked by Griffin Campbell's top-three 100 IM NCAC time this season (53.67), nearly one second behind his school-record mark of 52.84 set at last year's conference championships. For the women, Annabelle Hopkins holds the program record (1:01.94) while Larissa Lamarca has the Scots' fastest time this year (1:03.11), followed closely by first-year Brooke Brown (1:03.88) and sophomore Megan Gross (1:03.91).
In the 200 IM, Garrett Layde (1:55.36) and Gelwicks (1:57.21) hold the third- and fifth-fastest clips in program history while sophomore Alison Hsu's 2:13.14 marks the Scots' top time this season.
And in the 400 IM, Garrett Layde's 4:11.17 marks the second-best in program history, set at the Wooster Invitational in December, while Hsu's 4:46.35 marks the women's top time this season.
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| Junior Emma Fikse currently holds two school records and six top-10 program times, all in freestyle events. |
Butterfly: Sophomore Trey Schopen rose through the ranks last season with a program-record 200 butterfly time of 1:52.39, just .04 ahead of Garrett Layde's 1:52.43, as they both garnered "B" cuts at last year's NCAC Championships. Both student-athletes hold top-10 program times in the 100 fly as well, with Schopen currently at sixth (51.43) and Layde at eighth (51.88).
Maggie Layde and junior Kalla Sturonas headline Wooster's women's butterfly contingent, both holding top-10 times in the 100 and 200 events. Layde holds top-five times in the 100 (57.87) and 200 (2:08.22) while Sturonas stands with the sixth-fastest 100 time (58.21) and eighth-fastest 200 clip (2:11.31). Bowers also adds depth to Wooster's front, ranking 16th in the NCAC this season after turning in a 2:13.28 at the Wooster Invitational.
Backstroke: Wooster's underclassmen headline the backstroke events, with Hsu's 200 back time of 2:09.41 ranking fourth in the program's record books, while first-year Hannah Langer broke into Wooster's top 10 this season with a 2:11.15 at the Wooster Invitational.
On the men's side, Schopen and sophomore Eli Samuelson both hold top-10 program times, marked by Schopen in the 100 (53.69) and Samuelson in the 200 (1:56.87).
Breastroke: First-year Craig Klumpp stepped up in December and has made an immediate scoring impact for the Scots after logging the program's seventh-fastest 200 breaststroke time (2:13.09) at the Wooster Invitational. Additionally, junior Griffin Campbell recorded a personal-best 58.59 in the 100 breast at last year's NCACs to take a top-three time in the program's record books.
On the women's side, first-year Brown leads Wooster in the 100 breast (1:11.74) while juniors Allison Clough (2:37.62) and Rachel Mandel (2:36.98) head the Scots' 200 breast effort.
Relays: Wooster's women enter this week's championships with top-five A-team conference times in the 200-free relay (1:39.48) and 400-free relay (3:37.81), with the latter time being just over one second outside of top-three contention. Wooster comes in with the fourth-fastest time in the 800-free relay (7:57.80) and 200 medley relay (1:50.16).
On the men's side, all of Wooster's freestyle relays come in with top-four A-team NCAC times this season. The 200-free relay (1:24.36) is .13 seconds behind third-seeded DePauw University, while the 400-free relay (3:07.33) is just over a second behind the Tigers. In the 800-free relay, the Scots come in with a season-best 6:59.62.
Diving: With no divers on the men's side, sophomore Cleo Potter leads Wooster's women in both diving events, highlighted by season-highs in the one-yard event (268.55) and three-yard event (301.30) at the Wooster Invitational in December.