The quartet of Eric Vaughn, Evan Rhinesmith, David Birrer (right), and Craig Vetor set a new Wabash record in the final event of Thursday morning’s preliminary round of the 2010 North Coast Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championship meet.
The foursome finished with a time of 3:26.19, eclipsing the old mark of 3:27.87 set in 2005 by Tony Caldwell, Colin Fahey, Michael Hewitt, and Chad Damitz. The new record also meets the NCAA provisional qualifying time of 3:28.78.
The Little Giants will send seven individuals and two relays to Thursday night’s final round. Four Wabash swimmers will participate in the finals of the 50-yard freestyle. Robert Fozkos narrowly missed a spot in the A finals, posting the 10th-fastest time in the event after finishing in 21.48. His time was six-hundredths of a second away from making the top eight places. Craig Vetor will join Fozkos in the B final after finishing with a prelim time of 21.80. Nick Rockefeller and Chris Kermin will also compete in the finals. Rockefeller earned a spot after a morning swim of 22.13, while Kermin was right behind with a time of 22.17.
Logan Rice qualified for the finals in the 500-yard freestyle after posting a time of 4:56.11 in the morning prelims. Rhinesmith and Pete Hewitt will both compete in the finals of the 200-yard individual medley. Rhinesmith had the 11th-fastest prelim time of 1:58.49, while Hewitt was 16th quickest with a time of 2:00.67.
The Little Giants posted the fifth quickest “A” relay time in the 400 medley relay qualifier. Rockefeller, Steve Zajac, Adam Current, and Fozkos finished in 3:38.35. Wabash finished fourth in the 200-yard freestyle relay prelims. Matt Routh, Vaughan, Rhinesmith, and Kermin touched the wall in 1:27.25, the second-fastest time of the season for the Little Giants.
The NCAC Championship meet continues through Saturday at the CT Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio. Preliminary swims start each day at 10 a.m. with finals scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.
