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CANTON, Ohio – The College of Wooster women’s swimming team overtook rival Wittenberg University in the second-to-last event and hung on for fourth-place at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships Saturday, the third and final day of competition at C.T. Branin Natatorium, while the Fighting Scot men passed Allegheny College in the late going for fifth-place.

The Wooster women had trailed Wittenberg for virtually the entire competition, but outsocred the Tigers by 44 points (65-21) in the 200 butterfly to take a 15-point lead going into the last event. A fourth-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay gave the Scots a total of 823 points to Wittenberg’s 806. Denison University (1,740.5) dethroned Kenyon College (1,609.5) for its second NCAC championship, followed by Allegheny (921). Behind the Tigers, Oberlin College (612), Ohio Wesleyan University (414), and Hiram College (411) rounded out the eight-team field.

In that pivotal 200 fly, Wooster’s Melissa Haug broke a school record and registered a “B” cut time for the NCAA Div. III Championships, marking the second consecutive day she accomplished those feats. Haug qualified for the championship heat (top-eight) with a morning swim of 2:09.91 and then shaved more than a second off of that during the finals to move up to fourth-place with a time of 2:08.61, surpassing Leah Becki (2:09.43, 2000) on the Scots’ all-time list. On Friday, Haug hit a “B” cut and set a new team best in the 100 fly (57.73).

Meggie Edwards also posted an NCAA “B” cut time and was part of a championship final again. In the 100 freestyle, Edwards recorded a national-qualifying mark in the preliminaries (53.16) and then lowered it to 52.60 – the second-fastest performance in school annals – for fifth-place during the finals. The senior’s career might not be done yet as she also hit a “B” cut in the 100 backstroke (58.01) Friday.

Two other Wooster women earned themselves spots in championship heats Saturday, both coming in the same event. In the 200 back, Priscilla Haug and May Tobar swam respective finals times of 2:10.47 and 2:13.18 for seventh- and eighth-place.

Rebecca Haug complemented her sister in the 200 fly, winning the consolation heat for ninth-place (2:10.23), while Kristine Mann was also part of that consolation as she came in 16th (2:18.66). The pair of Elizabeth Zucco and Rachel Kassenbrock collected key points for the Scots in the 200 back, touching 13th (2:19.28) and 15th (2:22.63), respectively.

Wooster picked up some critical team scoring in the mile, led by Sarah Rudawsky. The freshman covered the grueling 1650 free in a time of 18:24.08, good for 12th-place while edging teammate Ashley Meyer at the wall. Meyer was a second back in 13th (18:25.11) and Mann took 16th (18:41.42).

Also of note, Molly Bittner took 12th overall in the 100 free (54.00), Syd Kelly was 13th in the 200 breaststroke (2:31.11), and Tamari Farquharson won the 200 breast’s “bonus” heat for 17th (2:36.89).

Denison also overcame Kenyon for the men’s team championship for just the second time, as they tallied 1,794.5 and 1,419 points. Third-place went to Wittenberg (903.5), followed by Wabash College (782.5), Wooster (671.5), Allegheny (659), Oberlin (476), Ohio Wesleyan (348), and Hiram (311).

Diver Luke Knezevic was the lone Scot to garner all-NCAC honors Saturday via a top-three finish on the one-meter. He scored a 415.45, while in the pool, Logan LaBerge turned in the team’s best individual effort on the men’s side. He posted the sixth-fastest time of the 200 back in both the prelims (1:55.22) and the finals (1:54.95), just short of his NCAA “B” cut and school-record performance from earlier this season (1:54.34).

Eric Babbitt put up an NCAA qualifying time during the consolation heat of the 200 fly – his second of the meet – as he posted a 1:54.28 for 10th-place. His other national cut came in the 50 free (21.07) on Thursday.

Ryan Radtke completed a standout meet with a seventh-place finish in the 1650 free (16:37.44). He broke school records in the 200 IM (1:55.33) Thursday and the 400 IM (4:08.52) Friday, hitting an NCAA qualifying time in the latter.

            Supporting LaBerge in the 200 back, Adel El-Adawy and Brett Dawson contributed 11th- (1:55.20) and 16th-place efforts (2:02.40), respectively, during the consolation final. Andrew Olsen and Tyler Hartley-Shepherd was another set of Scot teammates in a consolation heat, with Olsen finishing 10th (2:11.86) and Hartley-Shepherd 12th (2:13.66) in the 200 breast.

Another 17 points, which was a little more than the difference between fifth-place Wooster and sixth-place Allegheny, was provided by John Cushing’s 10th-place finish in one-meter diving (163.00).