The Wabash swimming and diving team nearly topped 1,000 points on the way to a third place finish in the final team standings of the 2006 North Coast Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships. The three-day event was held at the C. T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio Thursday through Saturday.
The Little Giants took third for the sixth time in seven years at the conference event, topping the 900-point mark for the third time since joining the NCAC in 1999. Wabash finished with 974.5 points, trailing only champion Kenyon College (1,646) and runner-up Denison (1,606). Wooster was fourth with 796 points, followed by Wittenberg (754.5), Oberlin (577), Allegheny (562), Hiram (393), and Ohio Wesleyan (245).
Wabash had three All-Conference relays on Friday and Saturday. The 400 freestyle relay team of Michael Hewitt, Kyle Weaver, Blaine Cooper-Surma, and Jordon Blackwell took third place with a time of 3:11.45. Cooper-Surma and Blackwell joined Brent Graham and Zach Manker for another third place finish, this time in the 800 free relay (7:09.83). The 200 medley relay quartet of Hewitt, Jordan Extine, Weaver, and Cooper-Surma grabbed third with a time of 1:36.71.
Several Little Giants also put together an outstanding weekend at the annual event. Graham scored a sixth place finish in the 200 breaststroke (2:11.88), just ahead of teammate Kyle O'Keefe in tenth (2:16.21).Graham was also seventh in the 400 individual medley (4:13.75). Hewitt was sixth in the 200 butterfly (1:56.31), while O'Keefe was sixth in the 100 breaststroke (1:00.94). Extine took tenth in the 100 breast finals (1:02.16).
Weaver, in addition to three All-NCAC relay performances, captured fifth in the 100 butterfly with a time of 52.50. Hewitt was ninth in the event (52.64). Michael Belanger was sixth in the 1650 free (17:00.54), with Max Rubesch taking ninth (17:35.79).
Blackwell added a seventh place individual finish in the 200 free with a time of 1:44.62, along with a tenth place finish in the 100 free (47.90).
The Wabash divers also performed well over the weekend. Clayton Craig was seventh on the three-meter board Saturday night, scoring a total of 322.30 points. Craig was also seventh in Friday night's one-meter diving competition with 329.45 points. Rob Fenoglio was fourth in the final individual standings with 377.35 points.