Men’s Swimming & Diving downs Mount Union 170-118
By Bud Denega
ADA — If there's one thing Ohio Northern men's swimming and diving head coach Austin Veltman knows, it's that his team is tired. He's certain of that.
With that being said, the Polar Bears were still able to score a comfortable 170-118 victory over Mount Union Saturday inside the ONU Sports Center. The win improved Northern to 2-1 in Ohio Athletic Conference competition.
"We swam lights out tonight, and it's all mental," Veltman said. "They're tired. I know they're tired. I looked back at some of the sets we did these past two weeks, and it's hard stuff. They're tired. There's no doubt about that, yet they swam lights out. That tells me, right there, that we've got a pretty mentally tough team. When they want to go, they can go."
The Polar Bears won 12 of the 16 races Saturday, which included opening and closing the meet with victories. The 200-yard medley relay team — of senior Ryan Groehl (Marysville) and sophomores Jeremy Adams (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ann Arbor Pioneer), Jackson Stanley (Beavercreek) and Michael Lewandowski (Shelby Township, Mich./Eisenhower) — began the meet with a win, clocking in at 1:36.40. The 200-yard freestyle relay team — consisting of Lewandowski, junior Zach Ayres (Chillicothe), sophomore Justin DeLano (Englewood/Northmont and freshman Dillon Brady (Cleveland/St. Edward) — ended the meet with a victory, logging a time of 1:29.30.
Adams added a first-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley, registering a time of 2:01.20. He also won the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 48.67 and the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1:46.70.
Stanley was also victorious in the 100 and 200-yard butterfly, logging times of 53.77 and 2:01.86, respectively. Groehl added first-place finishes in the 100- and 200-yard backstrokes, clocking in at 54.32 and 2:00.29, respectively. Lewandowski also won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.35.
Freshman Ian Kogucki (Kingwood, Tex.) won the 200-yard breaststroke after recording a time of 2:15.39, while also touching first in the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:00.95.
ONU hits the road, traveling to Baldwin Wallace Friday.
