(photo courtesy of North Coast Athletic Conference)

Anna McGlade reached the championship heat in the 500 freestyle and the women's 200 free relay team finished fourth, highlighting The College of Wooster's results on Thursday, the first full day of competition at the North Coast Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships, being hosted this season at Denison University's Trumbull Aquatics Center in Granville, Ohio, for the first time.

Those performances helped put Wooster's women's team in fourth-place with 228 points through six events, while the men, hurt by a disqualification in the 400 medley relay, sit in ninth-place (81 points).

McGlade, a first-year competing in the preeminent swim conference in NCAA Div. III, stood out during the preliminaries as a time of 5:04.75 not only qualified her for the championship finals, but it marked the second-fastest performance in that event in school history. In the finals, she posted a similar time of 5:05.66 for an eighth-place showing.

Morgan Hughes, Alexandra Desotelle, and Mariah McGovern joined McGlade for the Fighting Scots' top relay team of the day, as they clocked in at 1:38.82 during their fourth-place swim in the 200 free.

Joining McGlade in the night session of the 500 free were teammates Kara Markham, the event's 18th-place finisher (5:22.17), Molly Laubernds, who won the bonus heat for 19th (5:18.83), and Caitlin Shea, following Laubernds in 20th (5:20.39).

In the 50 free, Hughes paced Wooster, sprinting to the wall in 24.55, good for 15th, and Desotelle added a 24th-place performance (25.28), while the trio of Kaitlyn Fries, Colleen Kill, and McGovern all scored in the 200 IM, taking 20th (2:12.79), 22nd (2:13.25), and 27th (2:21.06), respectively. Also contributing some key points was diver Theresa Spadola, who notched eighth in the three-meter (276.45).

While the men's team's 400 medley relay was costly, the young 200 free team of freshman Aaron Brown, sophomore Frayne Poeting, junior James Love, and freshman Conner Gelwicks came through with a solid seventh-place showing (1:26.86).

Individually, Brown, Poeting, and Evan Hagedorn all advanced to the night session, with Brown leading the way via a 22nd-place in the 50 free (22.03). Poeting and Hagedorn both scored in the 200 IM with respective finishes of 25th (2:00.42) and 26th (2:00.98).

Also of note, in the lone event that was held Wednesday night, Aaron Salzman took 12th for Wooster in the men's three-meter diving (291.05).

With several of its stronger events yet to come, the Scots' men's team could make a jump up the standings on Thursday and the women will look to solidify their fourth-place standing and possibly push for the top-three.