Oilers Win First Ever GMAC/MEC Championships
Canton, OH – The University of Findlay men's and women's swimming and diving teams completed the fourth and final day of the first ever GMAC/MEC Championship on Saturday, February 17.
Findlay's men's and women's teams were both named the GMAC/MEC Team Champions after an extremely strong performance during the week. The women finished with 1,973 total points, over 600 points ahead of the second place finisher. The men finished with 1,869.50 points, also over 600 points ahead of the runner up.
Dalton Shevlin kicked off the scoring for the Oilers by winning the men's three meter diving championship. The gold came with a total score of 403.95.
In the swimming finals, the competition began with the women's 1650 yard freestyle. The Oilers continued their dominant performances in the previous three days by taking another gold in this race, coming from Sydney Zimdars and her time of 17:43.01. Her finish also set a new school record.
Ben Rath grabbed another gold for the Oilers in the men's 1650, breaking his own school record with a B-cut time of 16:04.03.
Next up was the women's 100 yard freestyle, and Findlay managed to take the first and third spots on the podium. Amanda Stiegal came in first while breaking her own school record with a B-cut time of 51.21. Lauren Blanchard received the bronze by finishing with a time of 52.54.
In an extremely close race, Trent Williams tied for second in the men's 100 yard free with a time of 46.54.
Emma Barnes was the champion in the women's 200 yard backstroke with a B-cut standard time of 2:01.79. The Oilers also won bronze, with Sarah Miles finishing at 2:06.16.
The men's 200 yard backstroke saw another gold medal for the Oilers, with Trae Gulgin winning at a time of 1:52.87.
Hanna Cederholm finished second in the women's 200 yard breaststroke at 2:19.01, a B-cut provisional time.
The men also grabbed the silver in the 200 yard breast, with Park Bull finishing at a time of 2:08.56.
In the last event of the conference championships, the Findlay women won the 400 yard freestyle relay with a 3:28.42 finish. Their time set the new school record and barely missed the B-cut provisional standard. The relay was made up of Stiegal, Blanchard, Barnes, and Jenna Dasher.
The men finished their week with a silver medal finish in the 400 yard freestyle relay, with the team composed of Rath, Conner Whitaker, Mark Billeaud, and Nathan Bourne.
After the completion of the events, a number of Oilers received conference awards for their efforts.
Women's diver of the meet was awarded to Hannah May.
Dalton Shevlin was named the men's diver of meet for the conference championships.
Ben Rath received the honor of men's swimmer of the meet.
University of Findlay's head coach Andrew Makepeace was named the women's Coach of the Year.
The Oilers will now prepare for the NCAA Division II National Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina. Nationals will begin on Wednesday, March 14th.