Rex and Pelltier named co-OAC Divers of the Year as Men's Swimming & Diving wins 10th consecutive OAC Championships title
By: Andrew Korba
AKRON -- Senior Kyle Rex and freshman Tim Pelltier were named co-OAC men's Divers of the Year as the Ohio Northern men's swimming & diving team won its 10th consecutive OAC Championship on Thursday through Saturday at the University of Akron's Ocasek Natatorium.
Northern finished with 935 points for the team title, while Mount Union was second with 673.5 points and John Carroll finished third with 481 points.
"This was a challenging year for us," said head coach Peggy Ewald. "We lost some key contributors, but others stepped in to fill the holes and handled it well. We had another target on our back this year, but we responded to get another title."
Rex captured the 3-meter diving with 375.80 points and finished second in the 1-meter diving with 379.25 points.
Pelltier won the 1-meter diving with 392.55 points and earned All-OAC honors in the 3-meter diving with 337.20 points.
Senior Jordan Breitigam won two OAC titles, surpassing NCAA "B" Cuts in both events.
He won the 100 fly in an ONU record 49.28 and the 200 fly in 1:49.56.
Freshman John Raker also won two OAC titles on the weekend.
He broke the school record in the 400 I.M. touching in 4:08.30 and also won the 500 free in 4:39.06.
ONU also garnered 14 other All-OAC honors.
Breitigam and Raker also surpassed NCAA "B" Cuts, while earning All-OAC accolades.
Raker was second in the 200 fly in 1:53.78 and Breitigam finished second in the 200 I.M. in 1:53.30.
Freshman Logan Pfeifer tied the school record in the 100 free, touching in 46.32 and freshman Jeremy Preston finished second in the 100 fly in 49.88, which surpassed the NCAA "B" Cut.
Junior Christopher Hoffman earned two All-OAC honors, finishing second in the 200 free in 1:44.08 and third in the 500 free in 4:43.32.
Junior Jason Luthman also garnered in two All-OAC accolades, notching a second place finish in the 100 breast in 58.50 and finishing second in the 200 breast in 2:09.09.
Junior Spencer Franzoi finished second in the 400 I.M. in 4:08.93 and third in the 200 breast in 2:09.99.
Senior John Beaschler finished third in the 50 free and 200 free in 21.37 and 1:44.33, respectively.
Junior Brian Heilbronner was second in the 100 back in 53.27 and freshman Eric Chen recorded a third place finish in the 200 I.M. in 1:56.76.
The top three individuals and top two relays earned All-OAC honors on the weekend.
The Polar Bears also swept all five relay events on the weekend.
The 200 free relay team of Beaschler, Breitigam, Heilbronner and Luthman won in 1:24.74 and the 400 free relay team of sophomore Mitchell Murphy, Beaschler, Chen and Pfeifer touched first in 3:05.43.
In the 800 free relay, Beaschler, Chen, Hoffman and Raker teamed up to win in 6:57.83.
The 200 medley relay team of Breitigam, Heilbronner, Luthman and Pfeifer notched a first place finish in 1:34.28.
In the 400 medley relay, Beaschler, Chen, Heilbronner and Pfeifer won in 3:27.00.
"This was a decade of excellence," added Ewald. "It was great to see everyone out supporting this team. We will continue to have a target on our backs and will need to keep on competing at a high level."
