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Oilers Extend Lead on Fast Day Two at G-MAC/MEC Championships
Posted: Feb 08, 2023

Oilers Extend Lead on Fast Day Two at G-MAC/MEC Championships

Results

Results

Canton, Ohio – It was another day of competition at the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) / Mountain East Conference (MEC) Swimming and Diving Championships on Wednesday, Feb. 8 in Canton, Ohio at C.T. Branin Natatorium. Now half way through a grueling four-day event, the University of Findlay men's and women's swimming and diving teams both remain in first place, each creating more distance between themselves and their competition.

Findlay's men, ranked seventh in the country, are dominating the event and hold first place with 1,013.5 points scored, 500 points clear of Ashland which is in second. The Oilers' women, ranked 19th in the country, are in first with a total of 877 points, 79.5 points ahead of three-time defending champ, Hillsdale College.

Quote from Coach Makepeace

The men keep extending the lead and are on record point watch as we keep stuffing the score sheet. Kaden Heyne had a great day on the 1-meter board, just off National Qualifying scores. Our butterfly squad went bananas today with a 1-2-3 punch with Jaden Humphrey going a lifetime best and Tim Stollings and Camilo Marrugo notching the top two times in the country. Joe Kroeger has had a standout meet so far and as a dual sport SA, that has been awesome to watch. Our Medley group got fast tonight and we got to see big time drops from Dylan Day (winning the B final emphatically) and Brandon Moran who scored major points. The 200 freestyle was another great event of the men as they cruised 1-2-3 with some fast times in the Championship final, while Adam Hornak and Tyler Thomas put big swims together in the consolation heat. Our men's 400 Medley Relay slammed it all shut with a new pool and championship record that may stand for quite some time in CT Branin!

Our women had another great day overall on day two. Every session has gotten better, which is a testament to our resiliency after a number of tough races and performances through the first two days.

Our women extended the lead on Hillsdale which was exactly how we scripted it. They have gotten the best of us the last three years, but we wanted to flip the script and bring the trophy back to Findlay where we feel it rightfully belongs. That is no easy feat. Our women stepped up in big ways today. We had outstanding performances from Taylor Christensen and Megan Irwin in the 400 IM. Taylor went a lifetime best in that event, which was super emotional for our staff as she hadn't done that since arriving in 2018! Ceci Langle proved she is the best 200 freestyler in the conference tonight in winning that event. Emily Mears-Bentley continues her efforts for athlete of the meet in a second meet record performance.

Those may have been the "top" highlights, but we needed big moments from Jenna Daria, Macy May, Faith Marsicek, Abbie Kmet, Macee Reckard, Gwyn Payton and others to keep the fire lit for all our ladies!

Wednesday's All-G-MAC Performances

Women

  • Coming off a pair of G-MAC event titles yesterday, freshman Emily-Mears Bentley picked up where she left off, winning the 100 butterfly with a 54.67, defeating last year's event champion, Megan Clifford of Hillsdale College, by 1.5 seconds. Mears-Bentley's time was just .03 seconds off her season-best from the Calvin Winter Invite which still stands as the sixth-best time in DII this year.
    • Earning third team all-conference in the event is sophomore Macy May who came in third with a time of 56.93.
  • In the 400 individual medley, senior Taylor Christensen earned third team all-G-MAC, finishing fourth with a time of 4:37.26, a career-best.
  • Junior Cecilia Langle put together a big time performance in the 200 freestyle, winning with a time of 1:52.26, a lifetime best and NCAA B cut time.
    • Coming in third and earning third team all-G-MAC was freshman Macee Reckard who finishing in 1:54.75.
  • One of the more exciting races of the evening session saw Findlay take runner-up in the 400 medley relay, an event the Oilers have not won at the conference meet since 2020. Earning second-team all-G-MAC with their time of 3:51.34, just three-tenths behind Hillsdale College, was the team of Sasha Melnyk (So.), Katie Susi (Fr.), Macy May (So.), and Troie Grubbs (Fr.).

Men

  • There were no surprises in the 100 butterfly on the men's side as Findlay's transcendent talent, senior Tim Stollings, won the event for a fourth-consecutive season, this year completing the event in a time of 46.14, an automatic qualifier for the NCAA DII championship and the fastest time in the country this season.
    • In any other conference in the country, sophomore Camilo Marrugo likely takes home the event championship. On Wednesday, however, Marrugo would have to settle for second team all-conference behind his friend and teammate, taking runner-up with a time of 46.34, the second-fastest time in the country this season behind only Stollings' winning performance.
    • Third team all-conference goes to sophomore Jaden Humphrey who made the event a clean sweep for Findlay, taking third with a 49.71.
  • The 400 individual medley provided another dominant showing, this time of another elite swimmer, junior Daniel Garcia. Garcia took the crown in the event with a time of 3:55.43, narrowly missing his meet-record time from last season but still meeting the NCAA B cut. The time is tied for 12th in the nation this year.
    • Freshman Matteo FIlippi earned second-team all-conference in the event with a runner-up finish in a time of 4:02.11.
  • Marrugo would pick up a win in the 200 freestyle by swimming a lifetime-best time of 1:38.25, establishing a new G-MAC/MEC meet record in the process. That time is also good for the NCAA B cut.
    • Close behind was sophomore Angel Margaritov, last year's 200 free champion. Margaritov earns second-team all-conference in the event with a time of 1:38.35, just a tenth of a second behind Marrugo.
    • Rounding out the clean sweep was freshman Bruce Keener II who earns third-team all-G-MAC with a third place finish and a time of 1:40.75.
  • The Oilers men dominated in the 400 medley relay, earning the event title for the fifth time in six seasons. Already occupying the number-two spot in the country in this event, Findlay's team of Keener, Garcia, Stollings, and Marrugo blitzed the field, clocking a time of 3:12.20, a new meet and pool record. Finishing more than 12 seconds behind was the runner-up, the team from Davis & Elkins College.

Team Scores

Women

1. University of Findlay 877

2. Hillsdale College 797.5

3. Ashland University 415.5

4. Frostburg State University 391

5. Notre Dame College 283

6. Wheeling University 251

7. Fairmont State University 236

8. Davis & Elkins College 193

9. West Virginia Wesleyan College 138

10. Malone University 114

 

Men

1. University of Findlay 1013.5

2. Ashland University 513

3. Frostburg State University 487.5

4. Notre Dame College 402

5. Fairmont State University 385

6. Davis & Elkins College 294

7. Malone University 218

8. West Virginia Wesleyan College 89

9. Wheeling University 28