No. 11 Men's Swimming & Diving team sweeps all 8 events to take commanding lead on Day 2 of OAC Championships
By: Tim Glon
The No. 11-ranked Ohio Northern men's swimming and diving team won all eight events to take a commanding lead on Day 2 of the 2012 Ohio Athletic Conference Championships Thursday night at the University of Akron's Ocasek Natatorium.
ONU holds a 228-point lead after 13 of the 20 events with 684 points. John Carroll is second with 456 points, Mount Union is third with 334, Baldwin-Wallace is fourth with 203, Wilmington is fifth with 201 and OAC newcomer Defiance is sixth with 30 points.
The Polar Bears are gunning for their eighth consecutive OAC Championships title under eighth-year head coach Peggy Ewald.
Northern has won 11 of the 13 events thus far.
Ohio Northern's 200 medley relay team of senior Joey Bechtel, junior Drew Keriazes, junior Marc Anderson and sophomore Christian Garlock set an OAC and ONU record in winning the title in 1:49.10 in the first event of the evening.
Freshman Spencer Franzoi won his first OAC title by touching first in the 400 I.M. in 4:11.28.
The Polar Bears finished 1-2 in the 100 fly, with sophomore Jordan Breitigam winning the event in an OAC and ONU record and NCAA "B" Cut time of 50.15 and defending champion junior Marc Anderson finishing second in 50.74.
The win marked the fifth conecutive year that an ONU swimmer captured the title.
Senior Michael Schultz won his third OAC crown in the 200 free, breaking his own OAC record and surpassing the NCAA "B" Cut by winning the event in 1:40.30.
The win was his second of the championships, as he claimed the 500 free on Thursday, and makes him an 18-time OAC Champion in his career.
Junior Drew Keriazes won the 100 breast crown for the second time in three years, setting an OAC and ONU record and surpassing the NCAA "B" Cut in the event with a time of :57.40.
It was also his second title of the Championships after winning the 200 I.M. on Thursday.
The Polar Bears swept all three All-OAC places in the 100 back, as freshman Brian Heilbronner, senior two-time defending champion Joey Bechtel and sophomore Christian Garlock finished 1-2-3 in :53.19, :53.59 and :53.78, respectively.
ONU senior Nick Meyer scored a 49.20 on his 11th and final dive to edge junior teammate Albert Schmidt to win the 1-meter diving competition 454.75-430.50.
The Polar Bears completed their sweep of Day 2 with a victory in the 800 free relay. Senior Anders Samuelson, Keriazes, Schultz and Garlock won the event in 6:54.82.
The final day of the three-day championships will continue on Saturday.
