GRANVILLE, Ohio – The College of Wooster men's swimming and diving team overtook Wabash College for third-place on day three of the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships and takes a 16-point lead over the Little Giants into the final day of its quest for the program's first top-three conference finish in two decades. Wooster's women solidified its hold on fourth-place on Friday at Denison University's Trumbull Aquatics Center.

Wooster's top Friday finishes came in the final event of the day. While Wooster saw its three-year run of all-conference 400 medley relay swims snapped on the women's side, the Fighting Scots did take fourth, with sophomore Hallie Findlan, junior Maddie Becker, first-year Gracie Duchon, and sophomore Ollie Bream – all top-12 finishers in individual events on the day – go 4:00.16. Sophomore Max Likins, first-year Boston Sullivan, junior Josh Pearson, and senior Doak Schultz, who combined for five top-12 individual swims on Friday, were fifth at 3:27.51, with that ranking just off the program's decade-old record of 3:26.29.

Six Scots competed in individual championship finals on Friday, with Becker and Pearson leading the group. Becker surged up the program's top-10 leaderboard with a 1:05.60 in the 100 breaststroke prelims, with that time trailing alumna Molly Likins' school-record time of 1:02.58 from 2020. Becker went 1:06.27 in the finals, which was good for seventh-place.

Pearson matched Becker in terms of placement with a 4:02.78 in the championship final of the 400 individual medley. Pearson shed nearly five seconds off his prelim swim from earlier in the day and improved one spot from his seeding heading into finals. The junior was joined by Isaac Shaker in the championship final, and the Scots' sophomore placed ninth at 4:06.51, the second-fastest time in program history, and a clip that trails Pearson's school-record 4:00.30.

Bream logged a new career-high placement in the 400 individual medley, touching eighth with a time of 4:33.78. The then-first-year had a ninth-place showing in the event during her debut conference meet. Duchon debuted in an individual championship final with a time of 58.68 in the 100 butterfly, which was eighth. Earlier, the Scots' first-year went 58.48 in prelims, with that ranking as the eighth-best time in program history.

Schultz's ninth-place time of 50.29 in the 100 butterfly came on the heels of a 50.19 in prelims, which saw the senior improve upon his third-best time in the event in program history. Later, Schultz and Sullivan went record-chasing in the 100 breaststroke, coming up just short. Schultz's collegiate-best time of 57.96 was the runner-up pace in the consolation final, and it rates as the second-fastest time in program history. Sullivan immediately followed Schultz at 58.12, with that standing as the third-best program time. Senior Noah Golovan gave Wooster three straight spots in the consolation final, and his 58.58 was just off a collegiate-best time of 58.40 from 2022.

Sophomore Tucke Andrewjeski won the 400 individual medley consolation final at 4:09.09, and the Scots saw first-year Matt Kaley go 4:20.36 for a 15th-place finish. On the women's side, Wooster scored three in the consolation final, with sophomore Mariam Zayour's 4:48.07 leading the trio. First-year Emma Humbert backed up Zayour's 12th-place finish with the 14th-place time of 4:49.44 and sophomore JP Timken rounded out the heat with a 4:53.89.

Kay Wetmore dropped nearly a second off her preliminary time in the 100 butterfly, but the senior's 59.93 was just edged out by DePauw University's Maggie Peats' 59.78 for the consolation final crown. First-year Keara Wiley nearly broke a minute at 1:00.12 for the 13th-place time. First-year Callum Glover (51.12) and Likins (53.61) raced in the men's 100 butterfly consolation final and were 14th and 17th, respectively.

Junior Emma Connors led the Scots in the 200 freestyle with the 14th-place time of 1:57.06, as did sophomore Ryan Gross on the men's side with a 1:45.50, which was the 15th-fastest time. Sophomore Zach Fickes went 1:47.96 in the consolation final and was 17th overall.

Sophomore Izzy Bellefleur's 1:09.86 ranked 12th in the 100 breaststroke and sophomore Vicky Maumbe posted a time of 1:12.89, which was 17th. On the men's side, sophomore Ari Inwood took the top spot in the bonus final at 1:01.14.

Sophomore Hallie Findlan was one of Wooster's top backstrokers on the night, taking 12th in the 100-yard race at 1:00.11. Senior Min Kim stopped the clock at 1:02.99, as did first-year Coco Malnar at 1:03.49, and they were 15th and 16th, respectively, in the event. On the men's side, Likins also took 12th, coming in at 54.14 and first-year Will Laymon's 54.23 was 13th. Junior Lyonel Fritsch went 56.15 to win the bonus heat.

Denison holds a slim 1,265.5-1,254.5 lead over Kenyon College heading into the final day of competition on the men's side. The Big Red lead the Owls 1,428-1,367.5 on the women's side, while DePauw University has near-200-point hold on third-place.

Saturday's action gets underway with preliminaries at 9:30 a.m. Finals follow at 6 p.m.