John Carroll holds off Ohio Northern in tight finish to win 2018 Men's OAC Swimming & Diving Championships

February 18, 2018

By Tim Glon

AKRON — John Carroll held off a late charge from Ohio Northern, winning the team title by a scant three points, to claim the 2018 Men's Ohio Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championships Thursday-Saturday at the University of Akron's Ocasek Natatorium.

The Blue Streaks won the meet with 826.5 points, edging the Polar Bears in second with 823.5 points.

Mount Union was third with 696 points, Baldwin Wallace was fourth with 319 points and Wilmington was fifth 312 points

JCU and ONU each won eight of the 20 events in the Championships.

Ohio Northern's Nolan Huey was named the OAC Swimmer of the Year and Ryan McClelland of John Carroll was named the OAC Diver of the Year.

Huey won the 200 back, 200 I.M. and 400 I.M., setting OAC records and surpassing NCAA "B" Cut in all three events.

He won the 200 back in 1:49.93, the 200 I.M. in 1:51.10 and the 400 I.M. in 3:59.65.

Huey had a 4:04.08 time in the 400 I.M. prelims, then shattered that mark with his 3:59.65 clocking in the finals, breaking the league and school record by more than four seconds.

McClelland shattered the Ocasek Natatorium record in the 3-meter diving by scoring an OAC record 602.55 points, 67 points more than the previous mark of 535.45 in 2012. He broke the 17-year old previous OAC record of 552.10 by Mount Union's Brandon Smith by more than 50 points.

McClelland also rallied past Ohio Northern's 2016 champion Braden Kuhn on the last dive of the day to win the 1-meter title by a 467.35-456.05 count.

Ohio Northern was named the OAC Coaching Staff of the Year.

Five men won multiple events, there were seven OAC records broken and 11 NCAA "B" Cuts were surpassed.

Mount Union's Cole Ellsworth swept the distance free events by winning the 1650 free in 15:59.81 and the 500 free in 4:37.71.

John Carroll's Matthew Ramsey completed the sweep of the sprint free events, winning the 100 free in :45.60 and the 50 free in :20.92.

Ohio Northern's Pete He swept the butterfly events, winning the 100 fly in :50.27 and the 200 fly in 1:54.54.

JCU's Mason Beck won the 200 breast in an OAC record and NCAA "B" Cut 2:03.68.

Mount Union's Tyler Fry broke the OAC record in the 100 back with a :49.16 clocking in the prelims Friday morning. He then followed that up by winning the league title in :49.69 Friday night.

Baldwin Wallace senior Tyler Thompson won his third consecutive title in the 100 breast, finishing in :55.08.

Tom Pacek of John Carroll won the 200 free in 1:42.03.

On Saturday evening, JCU's lead was 35 points with two events to go, but ONU had a 46-20 advantage in the 3-meter diving to close the gap to nine.

Northern then won the 400 free relay, but John Carroll finished second in the race to hang on to the team title by three points, which is the closest finish in the team standings since John Carroll and Mount Union tied for the top spot in 1996.

Northern won the race by just .28 of a second in 3:05.30, making it the closest 400 free relay in OAC history. ONU also extended its winning streak in the event to six consecutive years.

John Carroll won the 800 free relay in 6:53.61 and the 400 medley relay in an OAC record 3:22.94.

Ohio Northern also won the 200 free relay in 1:23.41 and the 200 medley relay in 1:32.56.

Kuhn reached NCAA "B" Cuts in the 1- and 3-meter diving, earning All-OAC honors with runner-up finishes with 456.05 points and 493.00 points, respectively.

Final Team Standings

1. John Carroll 826.5, 2. Ohio Northern 823.5, 3. Mount Union 696, 4. Baldwin Wallace 319, 5. Wilmington 312.