It was a very memorable four days for Ashland University's swimming and diving program at the 2022 Great Midwest Athletic Conference/Mountain East Championships in Canton, Ohio.
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The Championships concluded on Saturday (Feb. 19), and the Eagle men finished second, and the AU women third, in the 10-team field. Ashland's men had 1,029.5 team points, trailing only Findlay (1,955.5), while Ashland's women had 1,228 team points, behind only Hillsdale (1,631.5) and Findlay (1,544.5).
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Those were the best placements in a conference season since 2003 (men) and 2011 (women).
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In addition to the team success, junior
Abby Locke was named the women's Swimmer of the Meet, and sophomore
Chuck Malberti is the men's Diver of the Meet.
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WHAT HAPPENED
- Malberti won the men's 3-meter diving with 400.05 points, and junior Franci Aleksi once again won an event (men's 1,650-yard freestyle), while setting a meet record and earning a B cut for 2022 nationals. Locke won the women's 200 breaststroke in 2:22.69.
- The Eagles' slew of Saturday second-place showings came from junior Veronica Eckroth in women's 1-meter diving (372.10 points), senior Isaac Osterfeld in men's 3-meter diving (373.70 points), senior Matt Filsinger in the men's 1,650 free (B cut, 15:57.18), senior Sydney Kermath in the women's 200 backstroke (2:05.05), and the men's 400 free relay team of senior Panos Nikakis, junior Joe Cummins, Filsinger and senior Jacob Keilholz (3:08.13).
- Taking third place were freshman Kristal Boyd-Hughes in women's 1-meter diving (364.95 points), junior Makayla Tarkenton in the women's 200 breaststroke (2:23.30), junior Amar Sapcanin in the men's 200 breaststroke (2:02.63), and the women's 400 free relay team of Locke, freshman Colleen Cox, senior Abigail Ellsworth and Kermath (3:35.49).
- SIXTH PLACE – Sophomore Josh Hagan in the men's 1,650 free (17:01.04).
- SEVENTH PLACE – Junior Sydney Laughlin in the women's 200 breaststroke (2:27.96) and sophomore Sydney Porinchok in the women's 100 free (53.66 seconds).
- EIGHTH PLACE – Sophomore Ben Voelker in the men's 200 back (1:58.62).
- NINTH PLACE – Senior Maddy Moates in the women's 200 breaststroke (2:29.52), senior Morgan Gardner in the women's 1,650 free (18:19.90), Cox in the women's 100 free (54.14 seconds), and Nikakis in the men's 100 free (47.03 seconds).
- ELEVENTH PLACE – Freshman Weston Brown in the men's 1,650 free (17:35.43).
- TWELFTH PLACE – Ellsworth in the women's 100 free (55.17 seconds) and Keilholz in the men's 100 free (47.69 seconds).
- FOURTEENTH PLACE – Junior Kaci Agre in the women's 200 back (2:16.06).
- FIFTEENTH PLACE – Agre in the women's 1,650 free (18:46.81).
- SEVENTEENTH PLACE – Junior Madi Baron in the women's 1,650 free (18:50.24).
- EIGHTEENTH PLACE – Cummins in the men's 100 free (48.04).
- TWENTIETH PLACE – Senior Cat Darnell in the women's 200 back (2:18.75) and sophomore Mikaela Vojacek in the women's 100 free (56.58 seconds).
- TWENTY-FOURTH PLACE – Freshman Holly Kraemer in the women's 1,650 free (19:22.16).
- Following the pattern of the previous three days, Eagle performers had more than a dozen PRs.
"(Assistant coach)
Carlton (Bruner) and I could not be ask for more from this squad on their final day," said Ashland head coach
Kyle Walthall. "Our divers wrapped things up with a fantastic showing, with Osterfeld throwing an awesome final dive that he had never attempted before to complete his career. On the swim side of things, we finished our sweep of the men's distance events with both Filsinger and Aleksi breaking the men's GMAC 1,650 record in separate heats. On the women's side, Gardner narrowly missed her PR and making top 8, but she wrapped up her career in fantastic fashion as well. In fact, every one of our seniors crushed their final swims tonight. In the 100 free relay, our squad did well and exceeded their seed placements and got us the points we needed to maintain our positions. Kermath and Voelker made it in to the championship final for the 200 back. Our breaststroke ladies did their job to win the console final, as well as finish three in the championship final, with Locke finishing first and Tarkenton wrapping things up with a third. Sapcanin made it in to the A final as well in the 200 breaststroke with a second-place finish. Our relays once again proved that they can get the job done and threw down some very impressive splits to wrap up the meet.
"In addition to our women finishing third and our men finishing second, we also won some additional awards. Abby was named the women's swimmer of the meet by earning the most points of any women's swimmer. I could not be more proud of her performances this meet. She ended the meet with an incredible 6 PRs, and missed B cuts by less than a second in the 100 breaststroke and a little over two seconds in the 200 breaststroke. Malberti was named diver of the meet for his win on the 3-meter board. I am so proud of our squad this season, and I cannot wait to see how well we do next year."
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UP NEXT
Qualifiers to the 2022 NCAA Division II Championships, March 9-12 in Greensboro, N.C.
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