Zack Pool

Kaitlyn Fries

The College of Wooster swimming and diving teams both finished up on a high note Saturday as the 29th annual North Coast Athletic Conference Championships wrapped up in Canton, Ohio, with the Fighting Scot men solidifying a fifth-place showing – a three-spot improvement over last season – and the women moving up one position in the standings in the second-to-last event to take fourth-place.

Wooster started the last day of competition in fourth out of the nine women's squads, but fell behind Wittenberg University before overtaking its archrivals during the 200 butterfly to secure that fourth-place position. The Scots wound up with 792 points to Wittenberg's 766.5, while Denison University edged Kenyon College 1654-1604.5 for the championship, followed by DePauw University in third (904.5).

In the 200 fly, four Wooster swimmers, led by Kate Hunt, qualified for the finals, and the senior standout delivered her third third-place performance of the meet, covering the race in 2:04.64. That time lowered her own school record in the event by about half a second and was a "B" cut for the NCAA Div. III Championships.

Providing significant support for the Scots to overcome the Tigers were Anna Duke and Colleen Kill, as they finished 11th (2:12.14) and 12th (2:13.09) during the 200 fly's consolation heat, respectively, and Caitlyn Murphy contributed an 18th-place (2:20.05).

Hunt was not the only one to reach a championship final on Saturday, with Morgan Hughes doing so in the 100 freestyle and Kaitlyn Fries in the 200 breaststroke. Hughes hit the wall seventh (52.89) and Fries touched eighth (2:29.36 after a 2:28.31 during the preliminaries), and while there is no so-called championship heat for the 1650 free, Wooster's Kara Markham contributed an eighth-place as she completed the grueling event in 17:42.30.

Samira El-Adawy narrowly missed getting into the championship finals of the 200 backstroke, with her 2:08.23 time being the ninth-fastest of the preliminaries. She settled for 13th overall (2:09.84).

A number of other Scots added key points throughout the day. Among them were Caroline Hanson and Rachel Appleton, who were 11th (2:29.62) and 13th (2:30.13), respectively, in the 200 breast, Molly Laubernds, who delivered a 14th-place effort in the 1650 (18:30.76), followed by Mary Nappi in 17th (18:45.58), and Clare Walsh, who won the bonus heat of the 100 free (54.25) for 17th in that race.

The men's standings played out similarly, with Wooster holding off Wittenberg, 591-563, in the battle for a top-half finish in the 10-team conference. Denison won convincingly over Kenyon, 1704-1515, and DePauw notched third (987) and Wabash fourth (717.5).

Most of the Scots' points were concentrated in the 200 back and the 200 fly on Saturday, headlined by Alex LaJoie qualifying for a championship final in the former with a personal-best 1:54.53 during the prelims. He settled for seventh-place overall (1:57.13), while in the consolation heat of the 200 back were teammates Brian Maddock in 10th (1:55.03), Zack Pool in 12th (1:59.92), and Elliott Ferrier in 16th (2:01.68). Earlier, Ferrier paced Wooster's distance freestylers and was 20th overall in the 1650 (17:49.77).

In the 200 fly, Pool paced five Scot scorers via an 11th-place showing (1:58.41), one spot ahead of Travis Burgess in 12th (1:59.11). Peter Hause touched 14th (2:02.10) and James Love won the bonus heat for 17th (2:00.70).

Hawken Lewis and Bryan Smith chipped in key points in the diving well, as they had respective scores of 279.00 and 232.25 for 12th- and 13th-place.

Over the meet, Wooster combined for nine NCAA "B" cuts and it will have one last chance to improve those times for potential invitations to the national field at the Kenyon Invitational next Saturday.