Men's Swimming & Diving races to lead after first day of the 2013 Wooster Invitational
By Tim Glon
WOOSTER — The Ohio Northern men's swimming & diving team flexed its muscles and took the lead after the first day of the three-day Wooster Invitational on Thursday at the Shapiro Natatorium.
The Polar Bears are in first place out of nine teams with 417 points, Case Western Reserve is second with 391.5 and No. 34-ranked (NCAA Division II) Malone is third with 359 points.
Senior All-American Jordan Breitigam and freshman Eric Chen led a strong ONU performance in the 200 I.M., where six Polar Bears finished in the top 12 and posted times under the 2-minute mark.
Breitigam was second in 1:55.44 and Chen was third in 1:56.07.
Freshman John Raker was seventh in 1:59.99 and junior spencer Franzoi was eighth in 2:01.46, but swam a 1:59.12 in the trials to get into the A Final.
Freshman Jeremy Preston was 11th in 1:59.74 and junior Brian Heilbronner was 12th in 1:59.99.
Northern also had an outstanding performance in the 400 medley relay, placing two teams in the top five places.
Heilbronner, junior Jason Luthman, Preston and freshman Logan Pfeifer were third in 3:29.68 and Chen, sophomore Connor Wood, Breitigam and senior John Beaschler were fifth in 3:30.56.
The 200 free relay team of Beaschler, Chen, Heilbronner and Pfeifer were second in 1:23.96.
In the 50 free, Beaschler was sixth in :21.27 and Pfeifer was 10th in :21.34.
Junior Christopher Hoffman finished 13th in the 500 free in 4:51.10.
"The mid-season invite has traditionally been an important measuring stick in our season, and through the years, this first day sticks out as one where we are measuring up in tremendous fashion," ONU head coach Peggy Ewald said. "It will be important for us to continue this momentum over the next two days."
The top 24 individuals and top 16 relay teams score points in the meet.
Day 2 of the meet will begin Friday with trials at 10 am and finals at 6 pm. Saturday's final day will have trials at 10 am and finals at 5 pm.
Diving on Friday and Saturday will begin at Noon with 11-dive competitions at the Wooster Natatorium on campus.