Wooster Invite - Day Three

Oberlin

Competing in their last meet of 2009, the Oberlin College swimming and diving teams went out on a high note with a successful finish to the Wooster Invitational on Saturday.

“This was a very positive and productive weekend for us,” Head Coach Mark Fino said. “Everyone worked exceptionally hard and the results showed that.”

First-year stalwart Grace Aheron concluded her sensational weekend by setting yet another school record – this one coming in grand fashion in the 200-yard butterfly. The Roanoke, Virginia, native recorded the fastest time in the nation so far this season with an NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 2:04.10, setting a new school record and Wooster Invitational record in the process.

Aheron also swam the lead-off leg the 400-yard free relay team that finished second overall with a new school record of 3:39.80. She was followed by Flora Samis, Shannon Gallagher and Sara Kadi. Kadi also had a strong swim in the 100-yard butterfly, placing sixth overall with a time of 54.78.

Laura Fries continued to impress with a great effort in the 200-yard backstroke. Her time of 2:11.94 was good for third overall.

Freshman Chelsea Lane took 11 dives off the 3-meter board and registered 286.30 points.

The strong finished by the Yeowomen bumped them all the way up to fourth place with 775.50 points. They bested the likes of Westminster, Allegheny and Ohio Northern in the process.

Sophomore Dimitri Macris spearheaded an excellent finish for the men’s team as he placed eighth in the 1,650-yard free by completing the course in 17:14.61. He also placed fifth in the 200-yard fly with a mark of 2:00.18. Teammate Cory Spiro was close behind in seventh as he touched in at 2:03.83.

Rookie James Foust gets better each meet and today was no different as his time of 48.01 in the 100-yard free was good for fifth place.

The Yeomen bested the likes of Gannon and Allegheny to place sixth overall with 645 points.

After the holidays, Oberlin will take part in its annual training trip to Key Largo, Florida. The teams officially return to competition on January 15 at the Kenyon Invitational.Competing in their last meet of 2009, the Oberlin College swimming and diving teams went out on a high note with a successful finish to the Wooster Invitational on Saturday.

“This was a very positive and productive weekend for us,” Head Coach Mark Fino said. “Everyone worked exceptionally hard and the results showed that.”

First-year stalwart Grace Aheron concluded her sensational weekend by setting yet another school record – this one coming in grand fashion in the 200-yard butterfly. The Roanoke, Virginia, native recorded the fastest time in the nation so far this season with an NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 2:04.10, setting a new school record and Wooster Invitational record in the process.

Aheron also swam the lead-off leg the 400-yard free relay team that finished second overall with a new school record of 3:39.80. She was followed by Flora Samis, Shannon Gallagher and Sara Kadi. Kadi also had a strong swim in the 100-yard butterfly, placing sixth overall with a time of 54.78.

Laura Fries continued to impress with a great effort in the 200-yard backstroke. Her time of 2:11.94 was good for third overall.

Freshman Chelsea Lane took 11 dives off the 3-meter board and registered 286.30 points.

The strong finished by the Yeowomen bumped them all the way up to fourth place with 775.50 points. They bested the likes of Westminster, Allegheny and Ohio Northern in the process.

Sophomore Dimitri Macris spearheaded an excellent finish for the men’s team as he placed eighth in the 1,650-yard free by completing the course in 17:14.61. He also placed fifth in the 200-yard fly with a mark of 2:00.18. Teammate Cory Spiro was close behind in seventh as he touched in at 2:03.83.

Rookie James Foust gets better each meet and today was no different as his time of 48.01 in the 100-yard free was good for fifth place.

The Yeomen bested the likes of Gannon and Allegheny to place sixth overall with 645 points.

After the holidays, Oberlin will take part in its annual training trip to Key Largo, Florida. The teams officially return to competition on January 15 at the Kenyon Invitational.

Westminster

The Westminster College men's and women's swimming and diving teams both placed fifth at the Wooster Invitational hosted by the College of Wooster Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Wooster High School.

A total of 10 teams, including two NCAA Division II schools, competed at the event won by the host Scots for both men's and women's. The Titan men compiled 964 points and the Titan women accrued 828 points.

The Westminster women compiled six first-place finishes, while the Titan men won one event. In addition, Westminster's results included a combined 17 Top 5 finishes (10 women's, 7 women's).

Sophomore Caitlin Lehberger (New Wilmington, Pa./Wilmington) accounted for three of the Westminster's women's teams event wins while also posting NCAA provisional "B" cut qualifying times in three events. Lehberger won the 200-yard individual medley (2:08.62) with a meet record and a "B" cut time, while her first-place time in the 200 breaststroke (2:26.01) was also a "B" cut.

Junior Courtney Herdt (Beaver Falls, Pa./Beaver Falls) and Lehberger finished Nos. 1 and 2 in the 100 breaststroke with "B" cut times of 1:06.42 and 1:06.91, respectively.

Lehberger's other win came while anchoring the first-place 800 freestyle team (7:58.69) that also consisted of freshman Lyndsey Vogler (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk), sophomore Sierra Beecher (Newville, Pa./Big Spring), and senior Emily Dressler (Hummelstown, Pa./Mount Calvary Christian).

Dressler was also a three-event winner, as she touched first in the 200 (1:57.33) and 500 (5:11.91) freestyles.

The other Titan women securing Top 5 finishes were Beecher taking third in the 200 IM (2:11.58) and second in the 200 freestyle (1:58.04), and Herdt taking third in the 200 breaststroke (2:27.03).

On the men's side, the one winner was freshman Alan Nedley (White, Pa./Connellsville) in the 200 butterfly (1:55.55). Nedley also placed fourth in the 500 freestyle (4:51.38).

Freshman diver Nathaniel Kronenwetter (Danville, Pa./Danville) took second in both the 3-meter (313.85) and 1-meter (297.85) diving competitions. Freshman Daniel Giles (Issaquah, Wash./Issaquah) also placed fifth in the 1-meter (261.05).

The other Top 5 finishes for the Titan men came from senior Ben Gutmann (Cranberry Twp., Pa./Seneca Valley) with third-place finishes in the 100 (59.94) and 200 (2:09.75) breaststrokes.

Westminster is off until it travels to Florida in for a dual meet vs. Rollins on Jan. 9.