Anna Hartig
Staff Writer
The College of Wooster swimming and diving teams are traveling this Wednesday to Denison University for the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Championships.
The event, starting at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 14, will last four days until Feb. 17. After a successful last meet held at the University of Mount Union on Jan. 27, both the women’s and the men’s teams will be looking to prepare for the championships. With success under their belt, the program spends the few weeks prior to championships practicing in order to get ultimate results.
“This season has been full of highlights, especially the win against Mount Union. We were certain to have a challenge, competing against them without divers, but our relentlessness allowed us to command the Purple Raiders to the end,” said Matt Pech ’18.
Against Mount Union, the Fighting Scots brought victories in many important events. The men’s 400 freestyle relay earned first place with a time of 3:15.79, over seven seconds ahead of their opponents. The team consisted of Ryan Campbell ’19, Wyatt Foss ’21, Max Koch ’19 and Cameron Gelwicks ’19. Teammates Griffin Campbell ’20 and Trey Schopen ’20 brought home three wins in the 200 medley relay, 100 breaststroke and 200 butterfly.
On the women’s side, Maggie Layde ’18 earned first place in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:45.23, which was nearly six seconds faster than the rest of the pack. The women’s team earned 187 points compared to the Purple Raiders’ score of 97. Contributing to the success, Emma Fikse ’19 won the 100 freestyle with a time of 55.65 and finished just behind a three-time All-American in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 10:51.69.
“Our meet against Mount Union was an energetic meet because it was Senior Night,” said Sara Fikse ’20. “There was a variation of emotions, but I think everyone was determined to work towards a win for our seniors. I think this unified mindset has continued into taper and will continue into NCACs. I also think taper is a super exciting time because we focus on fine tuning our techniques and resting in the pool. This way, we can head into NCAC’s recharged and ready to swim fast when it matters most.”
The Wooster’s swimming and diving teams are led by head coach Rob Harrington, who completed his 200th dual meet win at The College of Wooster after the meet against University of Mount Union on Jan. 27.
“The upcoming meet will be exciting because the NCAC is the fastest conference in DIII, especially with Kenyon [College] and Denison [University] being the best in the nation. People will be dropping some seriously fast times and scoring some seriously big points. And who knows? Maybe some of us will be battling it out with some of the fastest in the nation,” said Pech.
Preparing this week for the upcoming meet, the Fighting Scots are ready to continue their successful season. The men’s team is looking to repeat their fourth-place performance from last year which is quite the accomplishment with the tough competition in Wooster’s conference. The women’s team has plans on beating DePauw University to earn third-place honors.
Make sure to give the Wooster swimming and diving teams a good send-off as they head to Denison University to compete in conference championships. The four-day meet will start this Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 6:30 p.m.