Season Preview: Men's Swimming and Diving seeks back-to-back OAC Regular Season crowns, 13th overall OAC Championship title in 2018-19 campaign
By Blake Moore
ADA - The Ohio Northern men's swimming and diving program will look to defend its 2017-18 OAC Regular Season title and build upon a runner-up finish at the Ohio Athletic Conference Championships in the 2018-19 campaign under first-year head coach Austin Veltman.
Last season, the Polar Bears finished with a 7-2 overall record and an undefeated 4-0 conference mark, giving Ohio Northern its 12th all-time OAC Regular Season crown. Northern would conclude the campaign scoring 823.5 points, falling just three points shy of the team title, to finish runner-up at the 2018 OAC Championship held at the University of Akron.
Veltman, who becomes the fifth swimming and diving coach in school history, and his staff will welcome back 14 previous letter-winners, four student-athletes who have won an OAC event title, and five All-Conference selections from last year's squad.
"I have been placed in an extremely fortunate position at Ohio Northern," Veltman said. "I am taking over a strong team that has been well-coached and well-educated with a talented incoming freshman class. A winning culture has already been established at ONU, so our focus is to build upon the culture that exists."
Junior Nolan Huey (Fort Collins, Colo./Fossil Ridge) returns after being tabbed the OAC Swimmer of the Year in 2017-18. He would earn All-Conference honors after winning the 200 backstroke, 200 individual medley and 400 individual medley while also helping the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay capture first-place finishes at the conference championships.
The Fort Collins, Colorado product currently holds four school records in the 100 backstroke (50.53), 200 backstroke (1:51.25), 200 individual medley (1:51.10), and 400 individual medley (3:59.65). Huey's 200 and 400 individual medley times also top the Ohio Athletic Conference record books.
Seniors Pete He (Mason), Anthony Ferrell (Canton/Glen Oak), and Justin Chapman (Springboro) all return as 2017-18 conference champions, All-OAC honorees, and three-time lettermen.
He won five Ohio Athletic Conference event titles last season after contributing to the 200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay, and 200 medley relay crowns and racing to individual championships in the 100 and 200 butterfly races.
Meanwhile, Ferrell garnered All-OAC honors in the 100 (3rd) and 200 (2nd) breaststroke races and as a member of the winning 200 medley relay squad.
Last year, Chapman finished his junior campaign helping the 200 and 400 freestyle relay squads claim an event title at the OAC Championships.
Sophomore Ryan Mow (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) is the remaining All-OAC honoree from last season. He would finish second in the 1650 freestyle and third in the 500 freestyle to claim accolades in both disciplines.
Senior Gabe Rastatter (Springfield/Kenton Ridge) and juniors Grant Pfeifer (Bucyrus/Colonel Crawford), Ryan Groehl (Marysville), and Nathan Donatelli (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) each rejoin the Polar Bears as multiple-time letter-winners.
Rastatter, a three-time letter-winner at ONU, has accumulated 46 career points with three top-10 finishes at the OAC Championships. The sprint specialist has also served as a model in the classroom, being named Academic All-OAC in his sophomore and junior years.
Pfeifer, a two-time letterman, specializes in the distance events for Ohio Northern and has secured 27 career points at conference championship races.
Groehl has seen success in his two seasons with the Polar Bears, registering 61 career OAC Championship points. Last season, he would place fifth, sixth, and seventh in the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke, and 400 individual medley, respectively.
Donatelli is also a two-time letterman. He has produced 55 career points at the OAC Championships, which included a third-place effort as a member of the 800 freestyle relay team last season.
Additional returning lettermen include sophomores Zach Ayres (Chillicothe), Dylan Boyd (Cranberry Twp., Pa./Seneca Valley), Jacob Cordle (Lancaster), Andrew Leibensperger (Uniontown/Green), and Patrick Reed (Charleston, W. Va./Washington).
"I have been extremely happy with the adjustments our upperclassmen have made in this transition period. Adjusting to a new coach requires a leap of faith while learning to trust in the new process, and our returners have done a great job," Veltman discussed regarding his returners. "We have a bottom-heavy team this season with a large group of freshman and sophomores. They have done well to become strong leaders on the team for our underclassmen."
The men's swimming and diving program will add eight incoming freshman hoping to make an immediate impact this upcoming season.
"College swimming is very different from high school or club swimming, and it can be a difficult adjustment for freshmen," Veltman said. "Our freshmen have adapted well to a new program and have proven to be extremely coachable as first-year athletes."
The Polar Bears are scheduled to kick off the regular season this Saturday, October 20 at the Kenyon Relays and Denison Diving Meet. They will then round out their opening month schedule with their first home dual against OAC foe Wilmington on October 26 and a trip to John Carroll on October 27.
In November, Northern is scheduled to appear at the Calvin (Mich.) Invitational, host Wittenberg in a dual on Friday, November 16, and compete in the three-day Wooster Invitational.
Following a break for the holiday season, Ohio Northern is scheduled for January duals at Kenyon, Mount Union, and Oberlin. They will also host Baldwin Wallace for the annual Golden Kickboard Meet on January 18 while Case Western Reserve and Hillsdale (Mich.) stop by for Senior Day on January 26.
The season will conclude at the 2019 OAC Championships slated for February 14-16 at the University of Akron.
"We have a packed schedule with a lot of meets," Veltman said. "The NCAA allows for 16 competition dates, and we are using nearly all of them at 15, which can make for busy weekend throughout the season. As long as we do not overtrain, this should be beneficial for our young team to gain some experience."