OHIO ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (OAC) – MEN AND WOMEN
- Dates: Thursday, February 13-Saturday, February 15, 2020
- Location: Oliver J. Ocasek Natatorium – Akron, OH
- Host: Baldwin Wallace
- Defending Champion: John Carroll women (3x); John Carroll men (3x)
- Live Results: Available here
- Championship Central
Courtesy: John Carroll Athletics
WOMEN
A slew of first time champions helped the John Carroll women’s swimming & diving team expand their big lead on day two of the 2020 Ohio Athletic COnference Swimming & DIving Championships at the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio.
The Blue Streaks opened up the second evening of the OAC Championships in first place with 261.5 total points. The University of Mount Union was a distant second with 163 points.
Beginning the night on Friday was the 200 Medley Relay of freshmen Maddie Panus, Monica McKie and Rachel Halapchuk along with junior Gwyn Ledrick. The quartet set the tone with a first place finish with a time of 1:46.05.
In the 400 IM, Ledrick claimed another OAC title and conference record with a time of 4:28.34. Her time is also good enough to qualify her for the NCAA “B” cut.
In the same event, sophomore Katelin Avenir claims a fifth with a time of 4:52.73.
Five Blue Streaks represented John Carroll in the 100 Fly. However, Baldwin-Wallace’s Marissa Kural took home the gold with a time of 57.79. Freshman Ynyra Bohan was the first JCU member to touch the wall with a time of 58.87 and an impressive third place. Junior Tori Vale was next up with a fourth place showing at 59.16. McKie and Halapchuk swim their second events of the evening finishing in fifth and sixth place respectively with times of 59.40 and 59.42. Senior Emily Yoos wraps up the podium for JCU with an eighth place finish at 1:00.91.
In the “B” Final of the 200 Free, freshman Lauren Spence took home second at 2:00.42. Teammate junior Paige Wnek also swam well and finished in fourth at 2:01.50.
Hope Scherger broke through with her first career OAC individual crown. After two consecutive years as the runner-up in the 200 Free, she captured the OAC title at a time of 1:56.96, a remarkable showing from the junior.
Freshman Ashley Lynch landed a third in the same event at a time of 1:57.05. Senior teammate Maddie Dolce touched the wall in fourth at 1:58.11.
Senior Shelbi Shearer was the lone Blue Streak in the 100 Breast. That did not matter for the senior as she represented John Carroll well and took home her first career individual OAC title at a time of 1:07.98. Shearer did not start competing in the breaststroke until this year to help the Blue Streaks gain depth in the event.
The Blue and Gold completed a 1, 2, 3 sweep of the 100 Back with Panus (59.12), senior Spencer Kale (59.46) and Halapchuk (59.82). Senior Felice Ferrante, in her fourth career “A” final, finished up with a sixth place, 1:01.14 finish and McKie rounded out a seventh place 1:02.01 finish for John Carroll.
Panus was the third different Blue Streak to win a first career league championship Friday night.
The fourth to do so was in diving. A trio of Blue Streak freshman gathered the medals for John Carroll in the three meter dive. Catherine Steinwachs took home the gold with 314.60 total points. Maria VanDevere was the OAC silver medalist with 299.10 points. And Kathryn Visco claimed a bronze of her own with 274.50 points.
Rounding out day two is the 800 Free Relay where Ledrick, Scherger, Dolce and Lynch asserted their dominance by taking home the OAC title with a winning time of 7:49.95.
Wrapping up day two of the OAC Championships, John Carroll holds a commanding lead over its competitors with 658.50 points. Rounding out the top three is Mount Union (389) and Baldwin Wallace (376.50).
The Blue Streaks will be back in action for the third and final day of the OAC Championships at 10:00 am for the prelims and 5:45 pm for finals on Saturday February 15 at the University of Akron.
MEN
John Carroll used the strength of titles, records and NCAA “B” cuts to build upon its lead on day two of the 2020 Ohio Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championships Friday at the University of Akron.
The Blue Streaks biggest weapon, however, was its depth. A total of 17 swimmers competed tonight in “A” finals” with the next closest number from another school being ten.
It is a big reason why JCU will carry a lead of over 100 points into the final day of competition.
Results
John Carroll opened up the second evening of the OAC Championships in first place with 250 total points. The University of Mount Union was a close second with 223 points. JCU would increase its lead by 76 points over the course of the evening.
Starting out hot, the Blue Streaks of Forrest Campbell, Jackson Cooper, Jonah Venos and Liam McDonnell claimed the 200 Medley Relay title and rewrote the OAC record books with a time of 1:29.16. This time bests the previous record held by JCU just last season. Moreover, this time is also good for an NCAA “B” cut.
Freshman Nick Mudry claims the silver in the 400 IM with a time of 4:03.38. He narrowly fell to Mount Union’s Nathan Williams, who took home the OAC title at 4:03.18.
In the same event, junior Dane Bozsvai took fifth 4:13.31, sophomore Ben Rancilio claimed sixth with a time of 4:17.81, while junior Evan Gainous rounded out the podium for the Blue and Gold by finishing in seventh with a time of 4:17.81.
The Blue Streaks then captured the first 1-2-3 finish of this year’s championship meet in the 100 Fly. Campbell (48.49) edged out Cooper (49.45) for the OAC title and a new OAC record. Campbell also earns himself an NCAA “B” cut with his remarkable performance. McDonnell has himself an impressive swim as well with a time of 49.86.
The 200 Free “B” Final showcased senior Patrick Folan who took a third place finish home with a time of 1:46.37. Sophomore Westin Fishel finished with a time of 1:46.79 and a fourth place finish.
In addition, in the “A” Final freshman Jake Farr gave defending champion Cole Ellsworth of Mount Union a run for his money. Farr finished with a close second place with a time of 1:41.14, a tenth of a second behind Ellsworth.
In the same event, sophomore Adam Lenz (1:42.00) finished fourth, freshman Aiden O’Neill (1:43.06) claimed fifth and freshman Michael Heller (1:44.08) landed in seventh.
Venos claimed the OAC title in the 100 Breast with a time of 54.62. His time is good enough for the NCAA “B” cut. Defending champion and senior Mason Beck touched the wall in third with a time of 56.34 to earn All-OAC accolades.
The Blue and Gold claimed the top two spots in the 100 Back thanks to Campbell (48.78) and McDonnell (49.00). Both men also broke the previous OAC record and both men swam well enough for an NCAA “B” cut.
Freshman Jonathan Simoes (51.85) claimed fourth and Gainous (53.31) placed eighth in the same event.
Junior Jack Lausin represented John Carroll in the one meter dive. The junior finished the championships with a second place silver medal and tallied 409.80 total points.
In the final event on day two, the 800 Free Relay, the John Carroll squad comprised of Farr, Heller, O’Neill and Lenz placed second with a time of 6:54.41. Mount Union claims the gold and a new OAC record of 6:50.95.
After two days of competition at the OAC Championships, John Carroll leads the pack by a wide margin at 630 points. In second is Mount Union (527) and in third is Ohio Northern (362).
The Blue Streaks will be back in action for the third and final day of the OAC Championships at 10:00 am for the prelims and 5:45 pm for finals on Saturday February 15 at the University of Akron.
