Scots in Canton This Week for NCAC Championships

Eric Babbitt

After a season of preparation, The College of Wooster swimming and diving teams will put their hard work to a test this Thursday to Saturday (Feb. 8-10) when they take on some of the top programs in NCAA Div. III at the North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, hosted by Wabash College. The 23rd annual meet will once again take place at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio. Each day, the doors will open at 8:30 a.m. for spectators, with preliminary heats slated to start at 10 a.m., and the finals begin at 6:30 p.m. each night. An event-by-event schedule, daily results, and a bevy of other information can be found following links at http://www.northcoast.org. Kenyon College’s men and women are the defending champions.  

    NCAC Preview (Men): Wooster is riding a three-year streak of fourth-place finishes at the nine-team NCAC Championships. The Fighting Scots could well end up in that position again, however, they’re looking to get past Wabash College and into third-place, only behind NCAA Div. III national powers Kenyon College and Denison University.
    Although Wooster has 11 veterans who have scored at previous NCAC Championships, it will likely be led by freshman sensation Eric Babbitt (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. / Santa Margarita Catholic). The southern Californian is seeded second in the 200 butterfly (1:59.40), fifth in the 100 fly (52.71), seventh in the 500 free (4:47.60), and 10th in the 200 free (1:49.40), as he aims for all-conference (top-three) honors and NCAA-qualifying marks.
    The 100 fly appears to be the Scots’ strongest event. In addition to Babbitt, senior Brandon DuGar (Cleveland Hts., Ohio / Cleveland Heights), junior Matt Dominski (Winnetka, Ill. / New Trier Twp.), and senior Dan Noble (Akron, Ohio / Revere) enter the meet with the conference’s sixth- (52.59), eighth- (53.34), and 10th-fastest times (54.24) this year, respectively.
    DuGar and Noble have been consistently high scorers at the NCAC’s throughout their career, and will factor in several events once again. In addition to the 100 fly, DuGar has been a top-10 finisher in both the 50 and 100 free previously, while Noble will also likely make an impact in the 100 free and 200 IM.
    Wooster’s top sprint freestyler this season has been junior Kyle Oaks (Franklin, Ind. / Franklin Community), who has times of 22.27 in the 50 and 48.59 in the 100, which could be strong enough to land him a spot in the finals at the conference. Complementing Oaks and DuGar in the sprints will be freshmen Michael Saltzman (Evansville, Ind. / Asheville School – N.C.) and Ryan Radtke (Willoughby, Ohio / Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) among others.
    Radtke may make more of an impact in the 200 IM, an event in which he’s seeded seventh (2:00.39), and sophomore Andrew Olsen (Evanston, Ill. / Evanston Township) should factor significantly in that race. In the 400 IM, senior Andy Nicol (Bexley, Ohio / Bexley) and junior Mateo Chinchilla (North Olmsted, Ohio / North Olmsted) will likely be top scorers for the Scots.
    Chinchilla’s and Olsen’s success in the IMs will be due in large part to their strength in the breaststroke. Chinchilla reached the NCAC championship heat (top-eight) in both the 100 and 200 breast last season, placing seventh in each with times of 1:01.13 and 2:13.79, while Olsen is actually seeded slightly ahead of his teammate in those events this year via marks of 1:01.26 and 2:14.14.
    Not to be overlooked are Wooster’s top backstroker, freshman Logan LaBerge (Towson, Md. / Towson), who owns team season-best times of 55.39 in the 100 and 2:02.17 in the 200, as well as junior distance freestyle specialist Joe Witkowski (Bloomfield Hills, Mich. / Groves) and senior diver Aaron Bergman (Fairfax, Va. / W.T. Woodson).

    NCAC Preview (Women): Last February, rival Wittenberg University ended Wooster’s string of eight consecutive third-place finishes at the NCAC Championships, which also includes national powerhouses Kenyon College and Denison University. The Scots’ goal this year is to retake third, but it will have to do so with a very inexperienced group.
    Not only will their core group at the NCAC’s consist primarily of freshmen and sophomores, but they’ll be competing without their top returnee from last season, Meggie Edwards (Lynchburg, Va. / E.C. Glass). An All-American in the backstroke as well as a standout in the sprint freestyles, Edwards is studying abroad this semester.
    Making up for Edwards’ absence in the sprint freestyles will be fellow sophomore Molly Bittner (Westfield Center, Ohio / Cloverleaf), who has the potential to make an NCAC championship heat (top-eight) after coming in 11th in the 50 free (25.16), 11th in the 100 free (54.53), and 14th in the 200 free (1:59.93) last year. This winter, Bittner posted top times of 25.24 in the 50 and 54.71 in the 100 thus far, while first-year Alice Case (Berkeley Hts., N.J. / Mount Saint Mary Academy) could make a statement in her NCAC debut, already having recorded impressive times of 25.28 in the 50 and 54.76 in the 100 as well as 1:00.69 in the 100 butterfly, which makes her the No. 8 seed.
    Bittner and Case will be significant factors in the freestyle relays, possibly teaming with Amanda Bailey (Westlake, Ohio / Westlake), Allie Kibler-Campbell (Benton Harbor, Mich. / St. Joseph), Denise Koessler (Knoxville, Tenn. / Farragut), and Kate Kosenick (Fanwood, N.J. / Scotch-Plains Fanwood) to name a few.
    Individually, Bailey, one of the team’s most experienced as a junior, is expected to lead Wooster in the distance freestyles. She scored in three events at the 2006 NCAC’s, placing 15th in the 1650 free (18:47.57) and 17th in the 500 free (5:19.08) as well as 11th in the 400 IM (4:46.59). Bailey’s already improved her mile time from earlier this season (18:32.81) and is the seventh seed in the 400 IM (4:49.00).
    Kosenick, a freshman, will likely be the squad’s top backstroker in place of Edwards. She’s posted season-best times of 1:01.85 in the 100 and 2:15.52 in the 200, while another freshman, Syd Kelly (Edina, Minn. / Edina), has already developed into the team’s leading breaststroker, having turned in marks of 1:09.53 in the 100 and 2:30.00 in the 200 of those events.
    Another of the Scots’ top swimmers is sophomore Lindsey Dorko (Chardon, Ohio / Perry). She’s a breaststroke specialist, finishing 11th at the NCAC Championships last year in the 100 (1:12.36) and 13th in the 200 (2:37.67), and also will make an impact in the individual medleys.
    Wooster’s overall depth could give it the ability to finish among the top-three in the conference, as several other individuals will provide points. Those to note include freshman Elaine Coladarci (Evanston, Ill. / Evanston Twp.), senior Kathryn Lehner (Evanston, Ill. / Evanston Twp.), freshman Kristine Mann (Warren, Ohio / Howland), and sophomore diver Julie Pinzur (Northbrook, Ill. / Glenbrook North).