|
| Melissa Haug |
The College of Wooster women's swimming team broke two long-standing school records in relays and finds itself in a very close battle for a top-three spot after six events were completed Thursday at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, which continue Friday and Saturday in Canton, Ohio. Wooster's men's team sits in seventh-place and within striking distance of fourth in the NCAA Div. III's preeminent swimming conference, consisting of 10 teams.
Just 12 points separate the third- through fifth-place teams in the women's standings, currently Wittenberg University (250), DePauw University (248), and the Fighting Scots (238), while traditional national powers Denison University (491) and Kenyon College (461) top the field.
Wooster couldn't have asked for a better way to start the meet, as the 200 freestyle relay of Kate Hunt, Mariah McGovern, Melissa Haug, and Morgan Hughes earned a "B" cut for the Div. III Championships, set a school record, and took third-place for all-conference honors with its time of 1:35.87. That was a narrow seven-hundredths of a second faster than the Scots' previous best, which occurred in 2003.
Haug and Hughes were also part of the 400 medley relay team, which was nearly as impressive, as they joined forces with Priscilla Haug and Samira El-Adawy for a school-record effort in 3:55.54, more than a second better than the mark established back in 2002.
Individually, Melissa Haug posted an NCAA "B" cut during the preliminaries of the 200 IM (2:07.36) and then notched eighth-place in the championship final (2:09.45). Also advancing to a championship heat was Hunt, who touched sixth in the 500 freestyle (5:07.33).
Hughes sprinted her way to a 10th-place in the 50 free (24.38), followed by teammates Clare Walsh in 16th (25.36), and Adriana Hoak in 19th (25.34), while El-Adawy and McGovern were 11th in the 200 IM (2:09.13) and 500 free (5:08.92), respectively. Other scorers were Rebecca Haug, who hit the wall 15th in the 200 IM (2:11.97), Kara Markham, who came in 18th in the 500 free (5:11.80), and Colleen Kill, who was 24th in the 200 IM (2:16.11).
Wooster's men totaled 149 points, not far behind fourth-place Allegheny College (195) as well as Oberlin College (169) and Wabash College (162). Denison (498) and Kenyon (486) lead the way, followed by DePauw (329).
The Scots nearly gained all-conference honors in the 400 medley relay. Finishing one spot short in fourth-place were Alex LaJoie, Peter Parisi, Brian Maddock and Imre Namath (3:27.86).
Parisi paced the team's individual efforts by winning the consolation final of the 50 free for ninth-place (21.15). Namath was also in that heat, taking 14th (21.70), the same spot that LaJoie nabbed in the 200 IM (1:57.33). Kevin Audet scored via an 18th-place in the 500 free (4:52.63).