Season Preview: Women's Swimming and Diving looks to challenge for OAC Championship in 2017-18
By Caleb Scott
ADA — The Ohio Northern women's swimming and diving team will look to compete for an Ohio Athletic Conference Championship under 14th-year head coach Peggy Ewald.
The Polar Bears posted a third place finish in the OAC during the regular season and at the OAC Championships a season ago.
Ewald and her staff welcome back 10 letterwinners in 2017-18 and will look to lean on their experience in 2017-18.
"Both teams will need to seize all opportunities to improve, in and out of the water," said head coach Peggy Ewald. "We need to execute deliberate practice and pay close attention to the way we prepare and attend to the details each day. With tradition comes responsibility. We set forth many team traditions over the past 13 seasons, now we have the responsibility to uphold those and push beyond."
Three time OAC Champion and 3-time letterwinner Sydney Veon (Riverside, Ill./Brookfield) will look to lead Northern this season.
Ths senior is an 8-time All-OAC honoree, including All-OAC finishes in the 50 and 100 free and 200 free relay and 200 medley relay during the 2016-17 campaign.
Veon is also currently part of three ONU record-holding relay teams.
Also returning this season as All-OAC honorees are senior Hailee Sautter (Mansfield/Lexington), junior Kierra Watson (Brownsburg, Ind.), and sophomores Kyley Stuart (Ada), Libby Sartschev (Parma/Normandy) and Lauren Halle (Chandler, Ariz./Hamilton).
Sautter, a 3-time letterwinner, is a 2-time All-OAC recipient in the 800 free relay in 2015 and 2016.
Watson returns in 2017-18 after a successful sophomore campaign which featured All-OAC accolades in the 100 and 200 back, the 200 I.M. and 200 Medley Relay.
The junior also garnered the honor in the 200 back in 2016.
Kyley Stuart also returns after earning All-OAC honors as a part of the 200 Medley Relay.
Sartschev posted a third place finish in the 3-meter diving at the OAC Championships a season ago and earned All-OAC honors.
Halle returns in 2017-18 after posting a historic freshman campaign for ONU.
The sophomore was named the OAC Champion in the 200 fly, and currently owns the school record in the 400 I.M.
Her school record time in the 400 I.M. also made the NCAA "B" Cut.
Seniors and 3-time letterwinners Maggie Dempster (Akron/Firestone) and Kasey Mucher (Arlington, Tex./Oakridge) will also look to lead the team in 2017-18.
The duo each earned Academic All-OAC honors in 2016 and 2017.
Sophomore letterwinners Katelyn Koebel (Port Clinton) and Katey Stuart (Ada) also return for the Polar Bears.
Northern welcomes nine freshman to the program this season.
"We have a good freshman class, that when combined with the returning team, will round the team out a bit more than last season," said Ewald. "They will need to ask more of themselves than in the past. They have attained great focus in the classroom. The key will be bringing that same focus in the pool. We have a few gaps to close, but the woman can be resourceful. They put together a great championship meet last season. I feel confident they will do the same this season."
The Polar Bears open the season on Oct. 14 as the swimmers compete in the Kenyon Relay Meet and the divers in the Denison Diving Meet.
ONU will host dual meets with John Carroll on Nov. 11, Mount Union on Jan. 13 and Oberlin on Jan. 20.
The Polar Bears will compete in the Calvin (Mich.) Invitational on Nov. 3-4, the Wooster Invitational from Nov. 30-Dec. 2, and will host the OAC Championships at the University of Akron on Feb. 15-17.
Other dual meets feature matchups on the road at Wilmington on Nov. 10, Wittenberg on Nov. 17, Colorado College on Jan. 10, Kenyon on Jan. 12, Baldwin Wallace on Jan. 19 for the annual Golden Kickboard meet and Case Western Reserve on Jan. 27.
The NCAA Championships are slated for Mar. 21-24 in Indianapolis, Ind.