Wittenberg Women Finish 8th; Men Place 9th At NCAC Championships

Granville, Ohio- After the final night of competition at the 2019 NCAC Swimming & Diving Championships at Denison University's Trumbull Aquatics Center, the Wittenberg University women's team finished eighth overall in the team standings with 477 total points, while the men's squad placed ninth with a combined score of 449 points.

The Kenyon Ladies were the 2019 NCAC women's champions with 1,937 points, while Denison captured the top prize on the men's side with a team total of 1,851 points. 

On the men's side, freshman Anthony Petruzzi kicked off the scoring on the final night by placing 13^th overall in the timed finals of the men's 1,650 free with a season-best time of 17:31.90. Junior Nick Angeli was then the Tigers' lone competitor in the finals of the 100 IM, placing eighth overall in the "C" finals heat with a time of 59.27 seconds. A pair of men's swimmers represented the Tigers in the finals of the 200 back, with sophomore Connor Flanagan hitting the wall eighth in the "B" finals with a season-best time of 2:06.83, and freshman Casey Conrad winning the "C" finals heat with his top time of the season in the event at 2:09.65. Junior Bradley Barren was up next for the Tigers in the night session as he placed second overall in the "C" finals of the 100 free with a season-best showing of 47.50 seconds. Freshman Benjamin Hongell continued his impressive debut at the conference meet by earning Wittenberg's lone appearance in an "A" finals heat of an individual event, as he placed ninth overall in the championship heat of the 200 breast with a time of 2:07.90. That time was three seconds faster than his morning prelim time and nearly 11 seconds faster than his previous top performance in the event this season against Anderson University earlier this winter.  Sophomore Trey Gregory rounded out the conference meet for the men's squad in individual events by finishing eighth overall in the "B" finals of the 200 fly with a time of 2:01.29. The 2019 NCAC Championship meet officially came to a close for the Tigers with the foursome of Barren, Gregory, junior Drew Suffoletta and Hongell placing seventh in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:13.83. 

The women's squad picked up 35 total points in the timed finals of the 1,650 free, with freshman Abigail Dunasky posting the 12^th-fastest time in the event with a time of 18.37.82 and senior Morgan Siefert checking in right behind Dunasky in 13^th with a season-best time in the event of 18:46.10. Siefert returned to the pool later in the evening and placed ninth in the "B" finals of the women's 200 back with another season-best time of 2:19.75, while freshman Sophia Spriggs finished as the runner-up in the "C" finals of the 200 back with a season-best time of her own in 2:23.06. Three women's swimmers hit the blocks for the finals of the 100 free, led by junior Claire Bergefurd finishing ninth in the "B" finals with a time of 58.06. In addition to Bergefurd, freshman Jessica Crowder won the "C" finals heat of the 100 free with a season-best time of 57.55, while classmate Emma Menjivar finished fifth in the same heat with another season-best effort of 1:00.45. Junior Annelise Gibson added to her impressive week at the conference meet by finishing fourth in the "B" finals of the 200 breast with yet another season-best time of 2:30.31, while sophomore Breann Webb finished eighth overall in the "C" finals of the same event with a time of 2:55.42. In the final women's individual event of the 2019 NCAC Championships, junior Marita Banta-Long notched her best performance of the season in the 200 fly by touching third overall in the "B" finals with a time of 2:13.62. The Tigers closed out the meet with the team of Bergefurd , Menjivar, Banta-Long and Dunasky finishing seventh overall in the finals of the 400 free relay with a combined time of 3:51.64.