Men Win Third Consecutive Conference Crown | Women Finish Runner-Up
Canton, Ohio - The University of Findlay men's and women's swimming and diving teams finished up competition at the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC)/Mountain East Conference (MEC) Championships on Saturday, February 15. The men's team won the G-MAC/MEC Championship for the third consecutive season, winning the event by almost 500 points. The women's team fell just shy of a three-peat, finishing 107.5 points behind first-time champion, Hillsdale College.
Women
Senior Hanna Cederholm added yet another gold medal to her trophy case as she took gold in the 200 yard breaststroke with a time of 2:17.36, which also qualifies her for the provisional B mark in the event. Cederholm took home six championships on the weekend and for her efforts, earned Women's Athlete of the Meet.
Freshman Rachel Poling did well herself as she finished with the bronze medal, clocking in at a time of 2:25.92. In fifth place was sophomore Kristina Coleman who finished with a time of 2:30.17. Sophomore Erin Butler (2:30.51) and freshman Bojena Gross (2:30.99) took seventh and eighth place, respectively.
Sophomore Chris McFarland took the silver medal in the 100 yard freestyle, as she clocked in at 52.47 seconds. Senior Katy Kouvaris added a podium finish as she took seventh place with a time of 53.42 seconds.
The Oilers took third place through sixth place in the 200 yard backstroke in the following order: junior Sarah Miles (2:06.61), junior Ashton Klopp (2:06.80), junior Payton Zess (2:07.11), and junior Brette Klopp (2:10.84).
The women's 400 yard freestyle relay team of McFarland, Kouvaris, Ashton Klopp, and Cederholm took the bronze medal with a finishing time of 3:32.37.
Senior Sydney Zimdars earned the sixth place spot in the 1650 yard freestyle, clocking in at 18:03.70.
Men
Freshman Timothy Stollings, who could not have imagined a better weekend in the pool, added another gold medal to the meet as he took first in the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 45.67, which set a new meet record. Stollings was a perfect seven-for-seven, winning every event in which he competed. Better yet, in all seven of those events, not only did Stollings earn the conference crown, but he also set or was a part of setting meet records in all seven. For his efforts, Stollings earned Men's Freshman of the Meet and Men's Athlete of the Meet.
Fellow freshman Oiler Colin Martin was right behind Stollings in the 100 free as he finished with a time of 45.85 to take the silver medal. Senior Trent Williams did well himself as he finished in fourth place in the event, clocking in at 46.65. Freshman Alex Wisler (47.73) and senior Isaac Stretch (50.06) finished in sixth place and eighth place, respectively.
The men's 400 yard freestyle relay team of Stollings, Williams, Martin, and junior Nathan Bourne won the conference championship in the event with a finishing time of 3:02.75, dominating their way to a first place finish and a meet record.
Junior Paul Pavala earned himself a conference championship in the 200 yard backstroke as he reached the wall in a time of 1:48.60, which earns him the provisional B mark in the event and also set a meet record. Freshman Jaeger Loran took the bronze as he paced his way to a finishing time of 1:50.69.
In the 200 yard breastroke, senior Isaac Stretch took the silver as he paced his way to a finishing time of 2:07.87. Sophomore Jared Toaz was right behind as he took third place in the event with a time of 2:08.22. And the Oilers had the fourth place finisher as well in Bourne, who finished with a time of 2:08.39.
Junior Dalton Shevlin took second place in the three meter diving event, finishing with a final score of 409.75.
The Oilers now await the rest of the DII swimming and diving world to see how their times will shake out compared to those across the country. Their next event is the NCAA Division II National Championship which is scheduled for March 11-14 in Geneva, Ohio. Participants will be named in the weeks prior to competition.