Men's 400 Medley Relay team earns Honorable Mention All-America honors with 14th place finish Day 2 of NCAA III Swimming & Diving Championships

March 21, 2013

By Tim Glon

ADA — Senior Marc Anderson, junior Jordan Breitigam, junior Christian Garlock and senior Drew Keriazes earned Honorable Mention All-America honors with a 14th place finish in the 400 medley relay on Day 2 of the 2013 NCAA Division III Men's Swimming & Diving Championships Thursday afternoon at the Conroe Natatorium in Shenandoah, Tex.

ONU finished the consolation finals in 3:25.76 to finish 14th overall.

The four men are now two-time All-Americans, as they also finished 15th in the 200 medley relay on Wednesday.

"This is terrific," Keriazes said. "It has been tiring competing in all of the events, but it also a lot of fun. We have accomplished something that had not happened at Ohio Northern before and we did it twice. That's a great feeling."

The Polar Bears finished sixth in their heat and were 15th of 21 teams in the prelims in 3:24.53.

They were seeded 18th entering the meet with a school record "B" Cut time of 3:22.96.

The foursome also finished 25th in the 200 free relay earlier Thursday morning, placing eighth in its heat in 1:24.99.

"All four of these guys are doing a great job," ONU head coach Peggy Ewald said. "Only Jordan has been here before, so under the circumstances, they are doing excellent. These guys only qualified for the meet in the 200 medley relay, so to be All-Americans in an event with guys swimming legs that they are not used to is impressive."

Breitigam and Anderson also competed as individuals in the 100 fly.

Breitigam was sixth in his heat and was 21st of 44 overall in :49.40. He was seeded 18th in a school record :49.24.

Anderson finished sixth in his heat and 40th overall in :51.04 after being seeded 38th with a NCAA "B" Cut qualifying time of :50.30.

The top eight in each event earn All-America honors with finishers 9-16 earning Honorable Mention All-America kudos.

The four men earned Honorable Mention All-America honors in the 200 medley relay on Thursday, finishing 15th in 1:31.25.

The team finished 15th in the finals in 1:32.25 and became the first men's relay team to earn All-America honors in ONU history.

The group finished third in their heat and were 11th of 23 teams in the prelims in 1:31.70 Wednesday afternoon.

Keriazes and Breitigam also competed in the 200 I.M. Wednesday morning.

Breitigam finished 32nd out of 52 competitors in 1:53.04, while Keriazes finished 49th in 1:56.83.

Breitigam entered the 200 I.M. as the 12th-fastest qualifier with a school record time of 1:51.20, while Keriazes was seeded 36th in 1:53.50.

The 200 medley relay team was seeded tied for 12th with a school-record qualifying time of 1:31.05.

Friday will see just two individual events for the Polar Bears, as Breitigam will swim the 200 fly and Keriazes will swim the 100 breast.

Breitigam is seeded seventh in the 200 fly in an "A" Cut time of 1:49.08, while Keriazes if seeded 15th in the 100 breast in a school record "B" Cut :56.54

Saturday's final day of competition will include Keriazes in the 200 breast and the 400 free relay.

The prelims are slated for 10 am (CDT) each day with the top 16 advancing to the finals each night beginning at 6 pm (CDT).