Sophomore Holden Cubberley breaks OAC record in 1-meter diving, named OAC Diver of the Year as Men’s Swimming and Diving places 3rd at OAC Championships
By Wes Mayberry
AKRON — Sophomore Holden Cubberley (Celina) broke the Ohio Athletic Conference record in 1-meter diving as part of five All-OAC finishes for the Ohio Northern men's swimming and diving team on the fourth and final day of the 2023 OAC Championships on Saturday evening at the University of Akron's Ocasek Natatorium.
Cubberley was named the OAC Men's Diver of the Year after a pair of record-setting performances during the OAC Championships meet.
On Saturday, Cubberley broke the OAC record in 1-meter diving to win the conference title in the event with a score of 524.35 for 11 dives. The previous conference record was 510.20 set by Baldwin Wallace's Todd Richert in 2008. Cubberley now holds the ONU record in the event, besting the 496.30 set by Rick Jobe in 1985.
Cubberley was the conference champion in 3-meter diving on Friday, breaking his own school record with a score of 527.30 for 11 dives.
"He had been eyeing those records all year, and he checked off two big goals on his list," ONU head coach Austin Veltman said. "He has some pretty big goals in front of him too with getting to nationals and doing really well there."
Both Cubberley and junior Charlie Spyker (Harrod/Shawnee) earned All-OAC honors with NCAA "B" Cut scores in Saturday's 1-meter diving. Spyker was third in the event, scoring a personal-best 437.05, which ranks eighth all-time at ONU.
Freshman Selby Wilt (Findlay) and seniors Jackson Stanley (Beavercreek) and Calob Cope (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) also earned All-OAC honors on Saturday.
Wilt placed second in the 100 free with a time of :45.84, which tied the school record set by Eric Chen in 2016. It is just behind the time of :45.81 set by Jeremy Adams in the first leg of the 400 free relay during the 2022 OAC Championships.
Wilt finished the meet with a trio of All-OAC accolades, earning them in the 50 free and 200 free relay in addition to the 100 free.
Stanley placed third in the 200 fly with a personal-best time of 1:55.39, which ranks sixth all-time at ONU.
Cope finished third in the 1,650 free in 16:30.23.
The Polar Bears added six other top-eight finishes on Saturday.
The 400 freestyle relay team of Wilt, freshmen Nathan Clark (Cleves/Elder) and Carter Detweiler (Newton, Pa./Council Rock) and sophomore Brady Horgan (New Richmond/McNicholas) finished third in 3:06.98, which ranks ninth all-time at ONU.
Freshman Long Huynh (Billings, Mt./West) finished fourth in the 200 fly with a time of 1:55.78, which ranks eighth all-time at ONU.
Freshman Tyler Edmonds (Youngsville, La./Southside) placed fourth in the 200 breast in 2:07.76, which ranks seventh all-time at ONU. Clark was sixth in the event in 2:09.72, and sophomore Ben Starling was eighth in 2:14.33.
Horgan was eighth in the 100 free in :47.00.
The Polar Bears finished third of five teams in the meet with 642 points in the 20 events.
"Our guys fought their hearts out," Veltman said. "It was a really close meet, and we had so many great swims this week. I'm really, really proud of them."
John Carroll won the team title with 948 points, Mount Union was second with 761 points, Baldwin Wallace was fourth with 444 points and Wilmington was fifth with 246 points.
The top three finishers in individual events and top two relay teams earn All-Conference honors, while the top 16 swimmers in each event score team points.
Next up for the Polar Bears are the NCAA Division III Diving Regionals on Feb. 24-25 in Chicago, Ill., and the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships in Greensboro, N.C., on March 15-18.
