Women’s Swimming and Diving earns trio of All-OAC accolades on final day of OAC Championships en route to 3rd-place team finish
By Wes Mayberry
AKRON — Sophomore Mara Brown (Fremont/Ross), senior Shelby Starkey (Bellefontaine) and junior Katie Bend (Carmel, Ind.) earned All-OAC accolades to lead the Ohio Northern women's swimming and diving team on the fourth and final day of the 2023 OAC Championships on Saturday evening at the University of Akron's Ocasek Natatorium.
Brown finished second in the 200 fly in 2:13.82, which was over four seconds faster than her previous-best time of 2:17.61. She now ranks fifth all-time at ONU in the event.
Brown closed the meet with five All-OAC honors to her credit, three in individual events and two in relays.
Starkey finished second in the 200 back with a time of 2:10.59.
Bend was third in the 1,650 free in 18:41.98.
The Polar Bears posted seven other top-eight finishes on Saturday.
The 400 free relay team of Brown, seniors Gabbie Grant (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Lakeview) and Abby Schauer (Beavercreek) and sophomore Annie Richters (Troy/Miami East) placed third in 3:43.36.
Freshman Meghan Mattison (Easton, Pa.) finished fourth in the 200 fly in 2:18.07, which ranks ninth all-time at ONU, and sophomore Hannah Eversole was seventh in the event in 2:22.00.
Schauer was seventh in the 200 back in 2:14.10, and sophomore Aubrey Pritchard (Delaware/Olentangy Berlin) was seventh in the 200 breast in 2:40.46.
Grant was eighth in the 100 free in :54.81, and sophomore Alina Miles (Manteno, Ill.) was eighth in the 200 breast in 2:40.68.
The Polar Bears finished third of five teams in the meet with 552 points in the 20 events.
"Our women gave it everything they had all week," ONU head coach Austin Veltman said. "They had a ton of great swims, and I couldn't be prouder of them."
John Carroll won the team title with 1,038 points, Mount Union was second with 761 points, Baldwin Wallace was fourth with 444 points and Wilmington was fifth with 246 points.
The top three finishers in individual events and top two relay teams earn All-Conference honors, while the top 16 swimmers in each event score team points.
The 2022-23 swimming and diving season concludes with the NCAA Division III Championships in Greensboro, N.C., on March 15-18.
