Scots Sports
17 February 2006
Volume 118, Number 13
Seniors
say farewell to upstart squad
by Dustin Looney
Courier Staff
If all you knew was that Monmouth men's swim team finished fourth place in last year's MWC Championship and fifth place this year, you would assume that the 2006 squad is performing at a lower level than last year. But we all know what happens to people who "assume" things.
A close analysis of the results this year in the championship meet, which took place in Appelton, WI last weekend shows that this year's version of the MC Swimming Scots was vastly improved.
The swimming Scotsmen beat their season best times in an astonishing 24 of 24 races in the tournament. They also earned points in 23 of the 24 races, leading to 16 new school records.
Some of the highlights from the past weekend's contest included outstanding performances by Dan Campione, Andrew Wilson, Erik Hoffer and Robert Spearing, who all were able to step up their game and shed significant amounts of time off their previous season best times.
One example of the astonishing breakthrough performances occurred when Wilson broke a school record only to see his teammate, Campione, break it again just a few minutes later. Wilson was not to be outdone, however, as he let Campione enjoy his new record for just six hours before Wilson reclaimed the honor in a later race.
The swim team's coach, Keith Crawford describes it best saying, "Our men had many breakthroughs and their increased performances became contagious."
After these remarkable efforts, the men found themselves in fourth place with just one race left to complete in the championship meet. MC led by the smallest possible margin (1 point) going into the last event, which was the 400 yard freestyle relay. It was Ripon versus Monmouth College in the final match and whoever won would finish in fourth place. Unfortunately for the swimming Scotsmen, they lost by 1 second to give Ripon the edge in total points for the meet: 506-505.
Crawford
said there was nothing else MC could do, and it was simply an
outstanding event that went the wrong way. Although the final
standings did not match 2005, this year's swimming Scotsmen could
still hold their heads high.
Unfortunately the men's swimming performance was not "contagious" to the ladies, as they settled for an eighth place finish out of nine entrants in the tournament. Among the highlights for the lady swimmers were great efforts by freshman Sarah Christensen and sophomore Megan Wentzlaff.
The eighth place finish does not tell the whole tale for the ladies, however, as the team was clearly short-handed due to recent injuries.
Coach Crawford is very confident that in MC's third season of competition (next season) they will have a more competitive team on both the men's and women's side. "Our team goal is for both the men and the women to move up a couple spots in next year's tournament" said Crawford.
Crawford would like to thank the swim team's two seniors, Erin Jole for the ladies and Brian Kura for the men, for their special efforts and contributions to the team. Erin and Brian. . . thanks for competing hard and never being scared to get your feet wet!
