GRANVILLE, Ohio – Sophomore Josh Pearson made program history on Friday evening at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, and The College of Wooster's women's swimming and diving team accomplished something for the first time in over a decade at Denison University's Trumbull Aquatics Center. Wooster's men remain in fifth-place, while the women sit in fourth.
Pearson, who was not even ranked in the top-50 nationally in the 400 individual medley coming into the NCAC Championships, posted the fifth-fastest meet time during Friday's preliminaries at 4:04.59. The sophomore went over four seconds faster in finals, held off Kenyon College's Noah Hargrove over the final 25 yards, and placed third to secure all-conference laurels. Pearson touched at 4:00.30, which lowered his already-held school record, and the time was over a second below the NCAA Div. III "B" cut standard of 4:01.49. Hargrove, who entered the championships with the 17th-best time in Div. III, was right on Pearson's heels at 4:00.41. Of note, Pearson is the first Scot on the men's side to earn All-NCAC honors in the 400 individual medley.
Wooster stuck to its recipe for success in the medley relays, with senior Mia Chen, senior Molly Likins, first-year Ollie Bream, and first-year Hallie Findlan claiming all-conference honors in the 200 medley relay a night after they did likewise in the 400 medley relay. Wooster's time of 1:47.03 was third in the final. Noteworthy, Wooster's 200 medley relay extended its run of all-conference finishes to four straight championships, marking the longest consecutive stretch for the Fighting Scots since the 200 and 400 freestyle relays earned All-NCAC status from 2001-06.
The men's 200 medley relay featured another back-and-forth thriller for the final all-conference spot between Wooster and Wabash College. Wabash jumped out to an early lead in the backstroke before junior Noah Golovan put Wooster in front during the breaststroke leg. Wabash retook third-place during the butterfly, and the Little Giants' 1:33.12 beat out the Scots' 1:33.93. First-year Damien Donado, Pearson, and senior Doak Schultz joined Golovan on the fourth-place relay.
The Scots' top overall showing thus far came in the 100 breaststroke, where Wooster had three qualifiers in the championship final. Likins led the trio with the fifth-place time of 1:05.58. Madison Whitman was next at seventh, and the senior's 1:05.91 marked a collegiate-best and moved her up to third on the program's top-times list. Sophomore Maddie Becker touched at 1:07.36, which was ninth. First-year Izzy Bellefleur took the consolation final at 1:09.03 and classmate Vicky Maumbe won the bonus heat with a time of 1:13.62.
First-year Tucker Andrewjeski joined Pearson in the 400 individual medley and made the most of his first NCAC championship final with the seventh-place time of 4:08.50. That clip is the third-fastest in program history. On the women's side, first-year Ollie Bream moved from eighth to third on the program top-times list, with her 4:31.38 rounding out the championship final.
Golovan's 58.40 in the 100 breaststroke marked a new collegiate-best and pulled the junior up to second all-time in program history in the event. Schultz was right behind, utilizing his 58.93 to vault into the top-five in program history. Golovan and Schultz placed 11th and 13th, respectively.
Other top-18 placers for the Scots included Chen (100 butterfly, 1:01.50, 15th; 100 backstroke, 1:00.49, 12th), sophomore Emma Connors (200 freestyle, 1:59.26, 13th), Donado (100 butterfly, 53.02, 17th; 100 backstroke, 53.89, 14th), Findlan (200 freestyle, 2:00.24, 16th), first-year Ryan Gross (200 freestyle, 1:44.90, 14th), junior Min Kim (100 backstroke, 1:03.47, 18th), junior Graham Letkeman (100 backstroke, 54.28, 16th), first-year Max Likins (100 butterfly, 53.22, 18th; 100 backstroke, 53.53, 12th), junior Kay Wetmore (100 butterfly, 1:00.04, 12th), and first-year Mariam Zayour (400 individual medley, 4:49.72, 14th). Senior Robby Beal took the bonus heat of the 400 individual medley at 4:32.89.
Kenyon carries a 1,256-1,168 lead over Denison into the final day of competition on the women's side. DePauw University sits in third-place with 760 points, and Wooster is in fourth-place with 629 points. On the men's side, Kenyon's lead over Denison is 1,368.5-1,334.5. Wabash (716 points), DePauw (617 points), and Wooster (606.5 points) round out the top five.
Saturday's action starts at 9:30 a.m. with prelims and finals are slated for 6 p.m. The NCAC is not permitting spectators at this year's championships.