Men's Swimming & Diving dominates Day 1 of OAC Championships
By Tim Glon
AKRON — The Ohio Northern men's swimming and diving team started its quest for a ninth consecutive Ohio Athletic Conference Championships title in impressive fashion by winning four of the five events on Day 1 Thursday at the University of Akron's Ocasek Natatorium.
The Polar Bears have 281 points through five of the championships's 20 events.
Mount Union is second with 210 points, John Carroll is third with 116 points and Wilmington is fourth with 112 points.
Junior Jordan Breitigam won two events and set OAC and ONU records in both to lead Ohio Northern.
The Polar Bears posted a 1-2-3-4-5 finish in the 200 I.M., led by Breitigam's OAC record first place finish in and NCAA "B" Cut 1:51.63.
Senior Drew Keriazes, the three-time defending champion in the event, was second in a NCAA "B" Cut 1:53.50 and sophomore Spencer Franzoi was third in 1:58.36 to earn All-Conference honors.
Senior Jeff Zeleznik was fourth in 2:00.27 and senior Andy Garlock was fifth in 2:00.37 to wrap up the top five sweep for ONU.
It marked the tenth consecutive season that an Ohio Northern swimmer won the 200 I.M.
Breitigam also joined with senior Marc Anderson, Keriazes and junior John Beaschler to win the 400 medley relay in an OAC and ONU record and NCAA "B" Cut 3:22.96.
It was the ninth straight year that the Polar Bears won the OAC title in the event.
Junior Christian Garlock won the 50 free and tied the ONU record in :21.09 and Beaschler earned All-OAC kudos with a third place finish in :21.36.
Anderson, Beaschler, Keriazes and Christian Garlock won the 200 free relay in an OAC and ONU record 1:23.57.
Sophomore Chris Hoffman and freshman Jacob Croasdell earned All-Conference honors in the 500 free. Hoffman was second in 4:44.05 and Croasdell was third in 4:45.08.
The top three individuals and the top two relay teams in each event earn All-OAC kudos.
Day 2 of the OAC Championships will get underway on Friday with the third and final day on Saturday.