Season in Review

The Wittenberg University men's and women's swimming and diving teams put together another outstanding season in 2003-04, finishing with a 7-4 women's dual meet record and a 5-7 men's dual meet record, placing fourth in the women's North Coast Athletic Conference standings and fifth in the men's NCAC standings and advancing a pair of swimmers to the national meet in March.

April 1, 2004
Cody Nicely
Cody Nicely
Setting the Scene:
The Wittenberg University men's and women's swimming and diving teams put together another outstanding season in 2003-04, finishing with a 7-4 women's dual meet record and a 5-7 men's dual meet record, placing fourth in the women's North Coast Athletic Conference standings and fifth in the men's NCAC standings and advancing a pair of swimmers to the national meet in March.

Two individuals earned All-America honors at the NCAA Division III Championship meet, marking the fourth straight year that at least two swimmers have garnered such accolades. Wittenberg's men's team has had at least one All-American on the roster since 1992 and the Tiger women have had at least one All-American every year since 2001.

Conference Finish:
The Wittenberg men's and women's swimming and diving teams turned in strong performances at the annual NCAC meet with the aforementioned fifth and fourth place finishes. The women compiled the most points in school history with 957, eclipsing the 2003 total of 942.

Sophomore Becca Searcy (Shelbyville, Ky./Shelby County) earned third place in the 400-yard Individual Medley with an NCAA B Cut time of 4:36.62 to earn All-NCAC for the second time in her career. She added fourth place in the 500 freestyle in an NCAA B Cut time of 5:09.03 and fifth place in the 1650 free in an NCAA B Cut time of 17:31.19. Sophomore Betany Yeakley (Wilmington, Ohio/Wilmington) turned in three personal-best, NCAA B cut performances as she finished sixth in the 200 IM in 2:12.26, fifth in the 100 backstroke in 59.65 and sixth in the 200 back in 2:09.73. Her time in the 100 back broke a 15-year-old school record.

Freshman Jenny Mulligan (Cheyney, Pa./Delaware Valley Friends), who also had an NCAA B Cut during the season, finished sixth in the 100 back in 1:00.09 and 11th in the 200 back in 2:12.40, both personal-best marks. Senior Nicole Kinzeler (Centerville, Ohio/Alter) had a pair of ninth-place finishes and personal-best times in the 200 butterfly and the 200 free.

Other individuals who turned in notable performances included freshman Hillary Clark (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer), who finished eighth in the 200 free in 1:59.48 and had three personal-best times, and sophomore Amy Conner (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville), who finished seventh in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke events in 1:10.18 and 2:32.87, respectively.

On the men's side, the Tigers were on the short end of a near dead-heat for third place, finishing less than 100 points behind Wabash and Wooster. Senior Steve Rader (Concord, Ohio/St. Ignatius) was the Tigers' lone individual champion, taking first place in the 200 fly in a national qualifying time of 1:53.35. Rader also finished second in the 200 IM in an NCAA B Cut time of 1:53.54 and second in the 100 fly in an NCAA B Cut time of 50.83. He finished his career with two individual NCAC titles and eight All-NCAC awards (not counting relays).

Senior Alex Berger (Findlay, Ohio/Findlay) chipped in with a fourth-place finish in the 100 breast in an NCAA B Cut time of 58.92, and he added a 12th place finish in the 200 breast in 2:12.74. Junior Blake Troxel (Bluffton, Ind./Norwell) had a 10th-place finish in the 200 breast in a personal-best time of 2:11.99, one of three such individual finishes for him on the day. Senior Kyle Dunaway (Warren, Ohio/Howland) broke the school record in the 400 IM as he finished 10th in the event in 4:17.18.

Four of the five men's relays finished in the top-four, including two All-NCAC finishes. Rader, freshman Sean Wolf (White Lake, Mich./Walled Lake Central), Berger and senior Scott Olmsted (Castle Rock, Colo/Cherry Creek) took third place in the 200 free relay and junior Jonathan Newcomer (Valencia, Pa./Mars Area), Berger, Rader and Wolf took third in the 400 medley relay.



Nicole Kinzeler
Nicole Kinzeler
Diving Successes:
Freshman Cody Nicely (Knoxville, Tenn./Bearden)earned NCAC Men's Diver of the Year honors after finishing first in the 1-meter diving competition and fourth in the 3-meter despite leg injuries that hobbled him late in the season. Also finishing strong was junior Alex White (Columbus, Ohio/Centennial), a football player turned diver who finished sixth in the 1-meter event.

While Nicely was picking up his accolades, Tiger diving coach Ian Hershey was garnering recognition for his expertise. He was named NCAC Men's Diving Coach of the Year.

National Finishes:
For the second straight year, Becca Searcy and Steve Rader were the lone qualifiers for the Tigers. Both had some of their best times ever, but the competition was outstanding and their overall finishes were slightly off those in 2003.

Still, Rader finished his career as one of three Tiger swimmers ever to earn All-America honors four straight years. He finished 20th in the 200-yard Individual Medley, 13th in the 200-yard freestyle and seventh in the 200-yard butterfly. The 13th-place finish was good for Honorable Mention All-America and the seventh-place finish earned All-America honors. His best career finish was fourth place, which he managed three times in his career, and he concluded his collegiate career with eight school records, four individual and four on relays.

Searcy finished 32nd in the 500-yard freestyle, 17th in the 1650-yard freestyle and 10th in the 400-yard Individual Medley. The latter equaled her best career finish and made her a three-time Honorable Mention All-America honoree. The top eight swimmers in any event each All-America honors.

The Coach:
Leslie Ramsey (North Carolina '95) completed her third and final season at the helm of the Tiger program in 2003-04. Immediately after the season, Ramsey announced that she was leaving her position for personal reasons and moving to the Cincinnati area to pursue other employment opportunities.

Ramsey arrived in August 2001 after five years as an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky. About a dozen school and pool records fell during Ramsey's time heading up the program and one male swimmer and one female swimmer advanced to the national meet in each of her three years.