Scot Swimmers Open Season at NCAC Relays

The College of Wooster's swimming and diving teams kicked off their respective seasons on Saturday (Oct. 26) with the annual North Coast Athletic Conference Relays, taking place simultaneously at Denison University (diving) and Kenyon College (swimming).

Wooster's women's squad, which has finished third in the NCAC each of the last five years, held that position with 122 points, finishing behind Kenyon (170) and Denison (166), while boosted by a strong performance out of their divers, the Scot men tied for fifth with 76 points.

The Wooster women finished in the top-five of all eight swimming relays, highlighted by four third-place efforts. In the opening event - the 200-yard medley - sophomore Liz Whittam, senior Jenny Bayuk, junior Kayla Heising, and junior Tanya Tarasenkov placed third overall (1:52.53). Heising and Whittam also teamed up together in the 200-yard butterfly, along with sophomores Sophie Brym and Kate Henley, en route to a third-place showing in that event (1:51.59).

The Scots' other two third-place finishes came in the 400-yard individual medley relay and the 200-yard freestyle relay. The combination of Whittam, Bayuk, Heising, and Brym turned in a time of 4:18.01 in the 400 IM behind a pair of Kenyon teams, while Heising, Tarasenkov, Whittam, and Brym worked together en route to third-place in the 200 freestyle (1:42.08).

Second-place finishes in both the one-meter and three-meter competitions by Wooster divers Aaron Bergman and Todd Koenig resulted in 32 points for the team, as the Scots tied for fifth, a three-spot improvement over their showing at the 2001 NCAC Relays. The freshmen duo combined for a score of 312.85 in one-meter diving and 274.60 in the three-meter event.

The Scots' top swimming finish in the event came from the 200-yard backstroke relay, consisting of sophomore Austin Carter, junior Jim Gilchrist, sophomore Kevin Wolfe, and freshman Aaron Brumbaugh. They came in ninth overall with a time of 1:47.18.

Wooster's dual-meet season starts this weekend with a road trip to Mt. Union College on Friday (Nov. 1) at 5:30 p.m., and a home meeting against Wittenberg University on Saturday (Nov. 2), starting at 1 p.m.