BEREA, OHIO – The Baldwin-Wallace College swimming and diving teams will serve as hosts of the 2009 Ohio Athletic Conference Championship meet on Thursday-Saturday, February 19-21 at the University of Akron’s Ocasek Natatorium in Akron, Ohio. The B-W men look to be right in the mix for a conference title after finishing second in each of the last two years. A young women’s squad hopes to improve on a fourth-place finish in 2008.
The Yellow Jacket men have finished second to Ohio Northern University in each of the last two championships. The Jackets will be led sophomore two-time All-American diver Todd Richert (North Royalton). Richert was named the OAC Diver of the Year in 2008 after finishing first in the one-meter dive with a conference-record score of 510.20. He also placed second on the three-meter board behind ONU’s George Chesney. The two will likely battle for top diving honors again this weekend.
B-W will also rely heavily on senior Sean Sonnenberg (Napoleon), who ranks in the OAC’s top six in the 500-yard freestyle (4th/4:54.54), 200-yard free (6th/1:48.65) and 1650 free (2nd/10:08.11). In his three seasons at B-W, Sonnenberg has three conference championships.
The Jackets will also look to sophomore Hector Diaz (El Paso, Texas/Cathedral) in the 400 and 200-yard individual medleys, where he ranked fifth and sixth in the OAC, respectively, during the regular season. Junior Vince Colwell (Parma/Normandy) should find success in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard backstroke after winning each event last season. He enters each ranked fourth in the OAC this year. Sophomore Ryan Musille (Canton/GlenOak) joins Colwell in the five spot in the 50-free and also ranks fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke. Senior Nick Gattozzi (Strongsville) should also place well in the 100- and 200- yard breaststrokes. In the 200-yard butterfly, look for sophomore Mike Demitrieff (Parama/Normandy), who enters the event ranked second with a season-best time of 2:03.35.
On the women’s side, B-W will be led by senior Kelsie Baker (Dover), who ranks seventh in the OAC in the 100-yard breaststroke. Freshman Jessica McClarren (Bucyrus/Senior) enters her first championship ranked in the OAC’s top 10 in three events – the 400-yard I.M. and the 100- and 200-yard butterflys. Her top spot comes in the 200-yard fly where she posted a season-best time of 2:24.31. The Jackets should also get a solid finish from freshman Danielle Miller (Van Wert) in the 1,650-free , where she ranks fifth at 11:38.58.
All of the action from Akron is set to begin at 10 a.m. on Thursday. Visit the official tournament site at http://wwwbw.edu/athletics/sd/09oacchampionships/ for more details.
275 Eastland Rd.