Scots Return to Regular Action With Two Duals This Weekend

Meggie Edwards

Following their winter break training trip to Florida, The College of Wooster swimmers and divers will get back into the 2007-08 dual-meet schedule this weekend. On Friday night, Jan. 11, Wooster is at fellow North Coast Athletic Conference foe Hiram College (2-2 men, 2-3 women), starting at 6 p.m. Less than 24 hours later, the Fighting Scots will host Ohio Wesleyan University (2-5 men, 3-4 women) Saturday, Jan. 12, at 1 p.m. Wooster easily swept both of these duals last season, triumphing 149-80 (men) and 132-105 (women) against Hiram and 137-99 (men) and 141-91 (women) at Ohio Wesleyan.

Woo Invite Recap (Men): On Nov. 29-Dec. 1, three Wooster school records fell during the Wooster Invitational, held at Wooster High School, and the Scots men’s swimming and diving team secured a runner-up finish out of nine teams, only being edged by Westminster (Pa.) College. Wooster scored 1,636 points over the three-day event, just 35 behind Westminster (1,671). Ironically, the two competed in a dual just two weekends prior, and the Scots won that one by a very narrow margin (105-100). Also totaling 1,000-plus points at the Wooster Invitational were Case Western Reserve University (1,296.5) and Ohio Northern University (1,090).

Two of the records were courtesy of relay teams, as the 400 medley of Logan LaBerge (Towson, Md. / Towson), Andrew Olsen (Evanston, Ill. / Evanston Township), Eric Babbitt (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. / Santa Margarita Catholic), and Michael Saltzman (Evansville, Ind. / Asheville School – N.C.) closed day one’s action in a big way, finishing in first and setting a new school standard in the process (3:31.06). The 200 medley group carried that momentum over, as LaBerge, Olsen, Brendan Horgan (Hudson, Ohio / Western Reserve Academy), and Babbitt kicked off the second day with a win and another record (1:35.67).

The third Scot record came in an individual event and may have been the most impressive, as Olsen took down a 20-year old mark with his time of 1:00.01 in the 100 breaststroke. He tied for second-place. George Miller owned the previous best in that event via his mark of 1:00.04 back in 1987. Olsen also swam to fourth in the 200 breast (2:13.53) and fifth in the 500 freestyle (4:55.16) during the weekend.

Wooster combined for five other victories, led by Babbitt’s individual sweep in the butterfly. In the 100 fly, he won with a time of 51.37, just shy of the school record (51.31), and he paced the field in the 200, recording a mark of 1:56.06. Ryan Radtke (Willoughby, Ohio / Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) nearly re-set his own Scot record, as his 1:59.16 time in the 200 IM not only bested the field but was 0.42 off his standard from last season. LaBerge notched a win during the 200 backstroke, hitting the wall in 1:57.26.

Wooster’s remaining first-place finish actually came during the first race, as Babbitt, Saltzman, Horgan, and Radtke joined forces for a winning time of 1:25.83 in the 200 freestyle relay.

Woo Invite Recap (Women): The Scot women closed their fall season by dominating the 11-team Wooster Invitational, held at Wooster High School, as they scored 1,608 points, 465 more than runner-up Allegheny College (1,143) as well as 600-plus more than Case Western Reserve University (1,002.5) and the rest of the field.

Highlighting Wooster’s results were three relay wins (200 freestyle, 200 medley, 400 freestyle), Meggie Edwards’ (Lynchburg, Va. / E.C. Glass) two individual victories in the 100 backstroke and 100 freestyle, and a win by Tamari Farquharson (Kingston, Jamaica / Mercersburg Academy – Pa.) in the 50 freestyle. Edwards, a junior who was an All-American in the 100 back as a freshman, nearly posted an NCAA Div. III Championships-qualifying time in that event, as her mark of 1:00.30 was just 0.32 shy of getting on the list for nationals.

In the finals of the 100 free, the Scots took the top-four spots, with Edwards leading the way in 54.14. Farquharson was not far behind (54.35), followed by Molly Bittner (Westfield Ctr., Ohio / Cloverleaf) in third (54.72) and Alice Case (Berkeley Hts., N.J. / Mount Saint Mary Academy) in fourth (54.92), respectively.

Case, who touched the wall in second-place in the 100 butterfly (1:00.07), also was part of all three winning relays. She combined with Elizabeth Zucco (Chesterland, Ohio / Laurel School), Allie Kibler-Campbell (Benton Harbor, Mich. / St. Joseph), and Sam Spencer (Wooster, Ohio / Wooster) in the 200 freestyle (1:40.72), with Edwards, Farquharson, and Spencer in the 200 medley (1:51.93), and with Farquharson, Edwards, and Bittner in the 400 freestyle (3:39.83).

Complementing its showing in the 100 free, Wooster also showcased its depth in the 50 free.  Four Scots advanced to the championship heat, with Farquharson sprinting to the wall first (25.11), followed closely by Edwards in fourth (25.34) as well as Bittner and May Tobar (Athens, Ohio / Athens) in sixth- (25.44) and eighth-place (25.52), respectively.

Also scoring valuable points over the weekend was diver Caitlin McNulty (Sequim, Wash. / Sequim), as she won the three-meter competition via a 341.55 score.