The Wabash 400-yard medley relay team set a new Wabash record for the second time Thursday, earning All-Conference honors with a third place finish at the 2010 North Coast Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships.
Eric Vaughn, Evan Rhinesmith, David Birrer (right), and Craig Vetor posted a new school record of 3:25.94. Their morning swim time of 3:26.19 topped the old mark of 3:27.87 set in 2005 by Tony Caldwell, Colin Fahey, Michael Hewitt, and Chad Damitz. The time also bettered the group's NCAA Championship provisional qualifying time.
The All-NCAC effort helped Wabash finish sixth after the first of three nights of competition.
Wabash narrowly missed earning a top-three finish in the 200 freestyle relay in the meet's opening event. Robert Fozkos, Chris Kermin, Vetor, and Birrer combined to finish fourth overall with a time of 1:25.43.
Four Little Giants placed in the 50 free. Robert Fozkos had the fastest finals time, finishing 11th overall at 21.57. Vetor was 16th (22.25), while Nick Rockefeller finished 21st (22.09) and Kermin added a 22nd-place finish (22.16).
Freshman Jake Schild (left) took eighth place on the one-meter board with a total score of 355.65 for 11 divies.
Rhinesmith took 13th place in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:58.81. Pete Hewitt was 16th overall (2:01.41).
Logan Rice trimmed nearly six seconds off his preliminary qualifying time in the 500 freestyle, finishing 19th overall Thursday evening with a time of 4:50.84. Teammate Logan Falley was 20th (4:56.04).
Denison leads the team scoring after the first day with a total of 573 points. Kenyon is second (416). Wittenberg (242), Allegheny (227), and Wooster (222) are just ahead of the Little Giants (198). Oberlin (135), Hiram (108) and Ohio Wesleyan (108) completed the team scoring.
The meet continues Friday morning at 10 a.m. with the second day's preliminary events. The meet concludes with Saturday evening's finals at the CT Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio.