Oilers Men Cruising Through Two Days at G-MAC/MEC Championship | Women Remain in Second
Canton, Ohio - The University of Findlay men's and women's swimming and diving teams took on Day 2 of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) / Mountain East Conference (MEC) on Thursday, February 17 at the C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio. Findlay's men continued to dominate as they have now tallied 1000 points in the meet, 516 points clear of Ashland University who sits in second. The Oilers women are still battling with Hillsdale College and are currently in second, just 64 points behind the Chargers.
Men
Junior Tim Stollings continued his quest to take home a third consescutive Swimmer of the Year honor and put on another show on Thursday. Stollings got his day started in the 100 butterfly, his top event and the one in which he is the reigning NCAA D2 National Champion. In that race, the Prichard, West Virginia native took first place with a time of 46.52, giving him an automatic bid to nationals in the event. In that event, freshman standout Camilo Marrugo took second with a 47.21, sophomore Dags Bregis was third with a 48.98, and freshman Angel Margaritov took fourth with a 49.26. Marrugo and Bregis both met the NCAA 'B' standard in the event, putting them on the list for a potential bid to the national championship meet.
Second-year freshman Daniel Garcia continued to impress at the meet as he took first in the 400 individual medley, clocking in with a time of 3:54.92 to claim the championship in that event. That time set a new school record and also broke the meet record, as well.
In the 200-yard freestyle, the Oilers got another champion as Margaritov took the crown with a time of 1:40.93. Sophomore Adam Hornak finished third in that race, touching the wall in 1:41.36 while Bregis helped chalk up some more points with a time of 1:41.54, earning fourth.
Stollings, Garcia, Marrugo, and freshman Jaden Humphrey teammed up for the final event of the evening and picked up yet another title for the Oilers, winning the race with a time of 3:14.75 which set new pool and meet records and was a provisional mark for the national championship.
The four wins give Findlay's men eight titles through two days of competition as the team is well on its' way to a fifth consecutive conference championship.
Women
Findlay's women picked up an event championship in the 400 medley relay as freshman Mille Berg, junior Rachel Poling, freshman Edith Somrah, and sophomore Cecilia Langle edged out a victory with a time of 3:53.40, just five tenths of a second ahead of runner-up Hillsdale.
Langle also competed in the 200 yard freestyle where she took the silver, earning the runner-up finish with a time of 1:54.15. Somrah added another podium finish as she took third place with a time of 58.47 in the 100 yard butterfly.
Teams will be back in action tomorrow morning with prelims again beginning at 10:00 am in Canton. Links to live results and live video can be found HERE.