Men's Swimming & Diving team opens 2014-15 season with solid fourth place finish at Kenyon Relays
By Tim Glon
GAMBIER — The Ohio Northern men's swimming and diving team opened its 2014-15 season with a solid performance at the Kenyon Relays on Saturday at the Kenyon Aquatic Center.
The Polar Bears finished the 8-team meet in fourth place with 50 points.
The meet featured eight relay events for each gender and a mixed 200 medley relay which featured two men and two women in a relay.
The 200 free relay team of junior Mitchell Murphy, sophomore Eric Chen, senior Chris W. Hoffman and sophomore Logan Pfeifer led Ohio Northern with a fourth place finish in 1:27.99.
"It was a great opportunity to race some of the nation's best in DIII teams at the Kenyon Aquatic Center," ONU head coach Peggy Ewald said.. "The meet allows us to step up and have fun by swimming all relay events. It's all about the team. The lessons we learned today of where the emphasis needs to be placed as we move into the competitive phase of the season will serve the team well. We were aggressive on relay starts and ended up with too many disqualifications on relay take offs, but again it shows us where we need to sharpen our skills.
"Overall I'm pleased with how we performed. I know the attitude of the team will be to push on with commitment to improve each week. Staying focused on our objectives will lead us down the right path."
Freshman Gabe Dauch, freshman Trevor Keriazes, sophomore Jeremy Preston and Pfeifer finished fifth in the 200 medley relay in 1:37.82.
Northern finished sixth in the 400 I.M. relay, as Keriazes, Chen, Preston and Dauch touched in 4:21.50.
The 200 fly relay team of Preston, senior Sean O'Neill, sophomore John Raker and Murphy were sixth in 1:37.31.
In the mixed 200 medley relay, Keriazes, Preston, junior Allison Lohnes and sophomore Jill Chapman were fourth in 1:44.26.
The Polar Bears will return to action next Saturday whey they travel to John Carroll to open the Ohio Athletic Conference portion of their schedule.