Hillsdale Women, Findlay Men Lead G-MAC/MEC Conference Championships

GREAT MIDWEST/MOUNTAIN EAST (GMAC/MEC) – MEN AND WOMEN

• Dates: Wednesday-Saturday, February 12-15th
• Location: C.T. Branin Natatorium Canton, Ohio
• Defending Champions: Findlay men (2x); Findlay women (2x)
• Championship Central
• Day 1 Women’s Results
• Day 1 Men’s Results

Courtesy: Great Midwest/Mountain East Conference

Women’s Recap

CANTON, Ohio – Nine different event winners were crowned during the first of four days at the Great Midwest/Mountain East Conference Swimming & Diving Championships Wednesday at the C.T. Branin Natatorium.

Hillsdale has the early lead in the 13-team women’s scoring with 380 points as the freshman trio of Leah Tunney, Madison Pyhel and Sarah Clark, accounted for major points in the 1,000 freestyle, the first individual event during the evening finals session.

Pyhel would finish fourth and Clark placed ninth for 2018-19 G-MAC/MEC Coach of the Year Kurt Kirner. Hillsdale graduated NCAA qualifying All-American breaststroke specialist Anika Ellingson from a year ago while reloading the roster.

The Chargers have an edge over Findlay (343 points) followed by host Malone, Fairmont State and newcomer UNC Pembroke, which won two different events (1,000 freestyle, 50 freestyle).

The 1,000 freestyle was just one of the many events with compelling background as a record number of student-athletes competed in preliminary heats during the morning.

Noticeably, the increased level of competition was on display in the water as it appeared to be that much more difficult to qualify for the finals heat.

The top three placewinners in the women’s 1,000 freestyle broke the previous meet record coming in. It was UNC Pembroke’s Nathalia Silva barely beating Hillsdale’s Tunney, a two-time conference swimmer of the week, by one hundredth of a second.

Tunney carried the mantle as the conference record holder coming into the event; Silva traded places with the rookie Charger in one of the longer events.

Findlay senior All-American Hanna Cederholm broke the overall and meet record in the 200 IM with a time of 2:04.16. Cederholm has qualified for nationals two times in the 200 IM since the inception of the combined conference meet.

A young Oilers’ 200 medley relay foursome claimed first with the sixth fastest time in 1:44.70. Junior Ashton Klopp was also second in the 200 IM to only Cederholm, who now has a staggering nine total event victories competing in the early stages of her third G-MAC/MEC meet.

Tiffin’s Lydia Deprey was able to record a top 10 score in combined conference history in the 3-meter dive.

Thursday’s preliminary action will start at 10 AM ET from the C.T. Branin Natatorium.

Men’s Recap

CANTON, Ohio – Nine different event winners were crowned during the first of four days at the Great Midwest/Mountain East Conference Swimming & Diving Championships Wednesday at the C.T. Branin Natatorium.

Findlay is taking aim at its third consecutive team title and the Oilers are off to a good start following an individual win in the 50 freestyle and the 200 yard medley relay.

The Oilers have close to a 100-point lead on Tiffin as the Dragons stacked up 1-2 in the 200 yard IM and won the 1,000 freestyle.

Findlay freshman Tim Stollings clocked a new conference meet record in the 50 free, posting a 20.64 in the final and a 20.60 in the preliminaries. Stollings ranks second all-time in conference history only behind former UF All-American Janko Radmanovic.

The first-year standout also hit the NCAA “B” qualifying standard.

Tiffin’s Miguel Angel Garcia Arroyo edged out his own teammate Jonah Sumfleth in a dramatic finish to the 200 yard IM. Sumfleth’s prelim time was actually tops on the day, but Garcia Arroyo bested Sumfleth by five hundredths of a second in the final.

Garcia Arroyo captured both swimmer and freshman of the year awards during the 2019 combined conference championship meet.

TU’s Christoph Hohenfeld delivered the first individual win for the Great Midwest as he timed a 9:33.56 in the 1,000 freestyle. A strong top three in the event also included Malone’s Nick Wertz as runner-up and Tiffin’s Nick De Robles in third.

Two Findlay freshmen contributed to the winning 200 yard medley relay, specifically Jaegar Loran and Alex Wisler, blending with the returning experience of Trent Williams and Adam Stretch, who are both seniors.

Malone is currently in third place with 206 points and Fairmont State and Notre Dame (OH) round out the current top five in team scoring.

Thursday’s preliminary action will start at 10 AM ET from the C.T. Branin Natatorium.