Sophomore Mara Brown earns trio of All-OAC honors to lead Women’s Swimming and Diving on Day 3 of 2023 OAC Championships
By Wes Mayberry
AKRON — Sophomore Mara Brown (Fremont/Ross) earned All-Ohio Athletic Conference honors in three events to lead the Ohio Northern women's swimming and diving team on the third day of the 2023 OAC Championships on Friday evening at the University of Akron's Ocasek Natatorium.
Brown finished second in the 100 fly with a personal-best time of :58.42, which ranks third all-time at ONU.
She also placed second in the 100 breast with a time of 1:07.60.
Brown's third All-OAC recognition came as a member of the 200 medley relay team with seniors Shelby Starkey (Bellefontaine) and Abby Schauer (Beavercreek) and freshman Meghan Mattison (Easton, Pa.). The team finished second with a time of 1:50.12.
ONU head coach Austin Veltman was proud of how Brown performed under difficult circumstances.
"Last year, we put Mara in the 100 fly and 100 breast double by accident, but she swam so well in both events that she decided to do it again," Veltman said. "That speaks volumes of her because that's a tough double to do. Mara is a really competitive person, and she swam really hard tonight. She did a great job in both of those races."
Starkey earned a second All-OAC accolade on the day with a second-place finish in the 100 back with a time of :59.93.
"Whenever the finals roll around, you know Shelby is going to be there," Veltman said. "She's a joy to coach and a hard worker and does everything the way you would want an athlete to do it."
The Polar Bears added a pair of fourth-place finishes courtesy of Mattison and Schauer.
Mattison was fourth in the 100 fly in 1:00.16, and Schauer was fourth in the 100 breast in 1:09.95.
Other top finishes included sixth-place efforts from sophomore Hannah Eversole (Cincinnati/Mt. Notre Dame) in the 400 IM in 4:54.66 and senior Gabbie Grant (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Lakeview) in the 200 free in 2:00.35.
Schauer was seventh in the 400 IM in 4:55.45.
ONU has 372 points to stand third after 13 of the 20 events in the four-day championships meet.
John Carroll leads the team standings with 678 points, Mount Union is second with 509 points, Baldwin Wallace is fourth with 282 points and Wilmington is fifth with 163 points.
The top three finishers in the 15 individual events and the top two relay teams in each of the five relay events earn All-Conference honors, while the top 16 swimmers in each event score team points.
The final day of competition will be Saturday with prelims at 10 a.m. and finals at 5:45 p.m.
