Maggie Layde

Ryan Campbell

GRANVILLE, Ohio – A back-and-forth school-record bout in the men's 200 freestyle and a third NCAA Div. III "B" cut from sophomore Emma Fikse highlighted the action on Friday evening as the Fighting Scots' swimming and diving programs wrapped up day three of the North Coast Athletic Conference championships on at the Trumbull Aquatics Center in Granville, Ohio.

The College of Wooster men dropped back a position, ending the day in fifth (587 points), while the women finished in fourth (660.5 points).

In the prelims of the 200 free, sophomore Cameron Gelwicks lowered his own school record with a time of 1:42.29, while classmate Ryan Campbell moved up from fifth-best to second-best in the program's annals with a time of 1:42.38. After both advanced to the consolation final, the roles reversed as Campbell etched a new school record, hitting the wall at 1:41.63, while Gelwicks followed a fraction of a second behind at 1:41.68. Both classmates finished 11th and 12th respectively. In addition, sophomore Max Koch, who bettered his top-10 time in the prelims to sixth-best (1:43.43) finished 15th in the consolation final at 1:44.21, while senior Aaron Brown contributed to the point total with a 1:47.14 in the C-final, good for 21st overall.

Kicking off the evening's events for the men were Eli Samuelson, Griffin Campbell, Garrett Layde, and Brown, who clocked in at 1:34.86 for a fifth-place time in the final heat of the 200 medley relay, bettering their prelim time by nearly two seconds (1:36.80).

In the men's 400 IM prelims, sophomore Michael Crookshanks recorded the ninth-fastest time in program history (4:17.95), nearly ten seconds better than his seeded time 4:27.15, and finished one spot out of advancing to the A-final before placing 13th overall with a time of 4:20.12 in the consolation final.

Continuing a stellar first year was freshman Trey Schopen, who recorded the sixth-fastest time in program history in the prelims of the 100 fly (51.43), as he advanced to the consolation final where he matched his qualifying position of 11th with a time of 51.71. Conner Gelwicks (51.96) and Layde (52.09), who currently hold the second- and eighth-fastest program times respectively, hit the wall just after Schopen for respective 12th- and 13th-place finishes.

In the 100 breast, sophomore Griffin Campbell swam the third-fastest time in program history, finishing at 58.59 in the prelims before turning in a 58.77 in the consolation final for 12th-place.

Continuing with the men's slate, current record-holder in the 100 backstroke, Conner Gelwicks, finished .09 back from advancing to the championship heat before winning the consolation final with a ninth-place time of 53.08. Schopen rounded out the consolation final, hitting the wall at 54.52 for 18th overall, while the quartet of Samuelson (54.68), Ric Reynolds (55.10), Ben Hopper (57.93), and Hunter Pierson (58.29) rounded out the bonus final contributors with scoring times, finishing 21st, 22nd, 26th, and 27th, respectively.

Also contributing with scoring roles were Pierson (4:26.87) and Matthew Pech (4:33.94) in the 400 IM, as they finished in 21st- and 22nd-place respectively, while seniors Avery Wilson (53.33) and Hopper (54.84) took 20th and 24th in the bonus heat of the 100 fly.

On the women's side, junior Maggie Layde finished just out of all-conference honors with a fourth-place time of 57.87 in the championship heat of the 100 fly. Layde moved into the program's top-five performances with a prelim time of 58.45 before improving upon that in the event's championship heat. Of note, Layde's fourth-place tally marks the second-consecutive year in which she has placed fourth in the event.

In the 200 free, Fikse, the current record-holder, finished just outside of all-conference honors, coming in fourth at 1:52.23, marking her third NCAA Div. III "B" cut and second in the event in as many days after posting a program-best 1:51.89 as the first leg of the 800 free relay. Senior Anna McGlade (1:55.23), junior Sarah Padrutt (1:56.90), and Avery Pearson (2:00.25) rounded out the consolation final in 10th, 13th and 17th places respectively.

In the 100 fly, sophomore Kalla Sturonas logged a top-five program time, claiming second-place in the consolation final with a time 58.21 after bettering her qualifying swim of 58.80. Sophomore Annabelle Hopkins finished 16th overall with a scoring time of 1:01.68 while senior Jamie Hibbs logged a 1:02.89 to round out the consolation final in 18th-place.

First-year Alison Hsu highlighted a Scots' trio in the consolation final of the 400 IM, besting her prelim time by nearly eight seconds with a final time of 4:43.71. Sophomore Allison Clough followed, hitting the wall at 4:50.44 for 16th-place, while Theresa Dunne rounded out the Wooster scorers, finishing 17th at 5:00.08.

Hsu proved the highlight for the Scots in the 100 back as well, claiming 14th-place with a time of 1:01.73. Fellow classmate Nell Kacmarek logged a 1:02.61 to finishing in a scoring role at 16th-place.

In the 100 breast, Clough bested her prelim time by over one and a half seconds, finishing the consolation final in 1:10.34 for 12th-place. Also scoring were teammates Rachel Mandel (1:10.50) and Abby Blinka (1:11.39), as they finished 14th and 16th respectively.

Also contributing to the Scots' scoring effort were first-year Megan Gross in the 100 fly (1:05.20), first-year Caleigh Balon in the 100 breast (1:16.36), and senior Lissy de la Chapelle in the 100 back (1:05.46).

Denison University currently leads both sides, with the men at 1299 and women at 1433. The championships conclude on Saturday with a preliminary session at 10 a.m. and finals heats commencing at 6:30 p.m.