An All-Conference swim by David Birrer in the 200 butterfly was one of several efforts Saturday that lifted Wabash to third place on the final day of the 2010 North Coast Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships at the CT Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio.
Birrer's swim was one of 19 in Saturday's finals for the Little Giants. Birrer (right) finished third in the 200 fly with an NCAA "B" cut time of 1:54.10 to add 27 points to the Wabash team total. The Little Giants finished third in the team scoring for the ninth time since joining the league at the start of the 1999-2000 season. Wabash finished fourth at last year's championship event.
Wabash opened the final day of competition with four swimmers competing in the 1650 freestyle. Logan Rice finished 10th overall with a time of 17:18.62. Logan Falley was 12th overall (17:22.29), with Elijah Sanders in 13th place (17:24.47). Chad Woods completed the team scoring for Wabash with a 16th-place finish (17:29.79).
The Little Giants finished in a tight pack in the 200-yard backstroke. Pete Hewitt led the way with a 15th-place finish, touching the wall in 2:03.10. Adam Current was 16th overall with a time of 2:04.92. Eric Vaughn was close behind in the 18th place (1:59.22), swimming in the "C" final. Teammate Nick Rockefeller took 20th place (2:00.16).
Craig Vetor picked up a 13th-place finish in the 100 freestyle, finishing in 47.42. Chris Kermin was 17th in the race with a time of 48.26. Four more Little Giants also earned berths in the finals of the 100 free. Robert Fozkos was 20th (48.66), Matt Routh finished 21st (48.81), Alex Beck was 22nd (48.94), and Steve Zajac finished 24th (49.72).
Evan Rhinesmith and Paul Buescher contributed 36 points to the team total in the 200 breaststroke. Rhinesmith captured ninth place with a time of 2:08.55. Buescher was 11th with a time of 2:11.03.
Current (left) and Falley joined Birrer in the finals of the 200 butterfly. Current placed 10th with a time of 1:56.73, while Falley was 16th overall at 2:01.31.
Wabash closed out the regular portion of the meet with a fifth-place finish by Vetor, Routh, Beck, and Kermin in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:10.96).
The Little Giants took to the water one final time before jumping back on the bus to return to Crawfordsville. The quartet of Vaughn, Rhinesmith, Birrer, and Fozkos added one more record to their weekend accomplishments, setting a new school mark in the 200-yard medley relay. The group posted a time of 1:33.17, bettering the record and "B" cut time of 1:33.63 set in Friday's finals.
Denison won the men's title for the second consecutive year, scoring a total of 1,678 points. Kenyon was second (1,529 points), followed by the Little Giants with 815.5 points. Allegheny took fourth place (799), with Wittenberg finishing fifth (789.5). Wooster (735), Oberlin (431), Ohio Wesleyan (352), and Hiram (320) completed the team scoring.
Wabash will have one final opportunity to improve its NCAA qualifying times next weekend at Kenyon's Last Chance Meet before waiting to see if the Little Giants will send any swimmers to the NCAA DIII National Championship meet in Minneapolis, Minnesota March 17-20.