Kenyon Collegian

Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Athene Cook The Lords look good going into next week's NCAC Championships.

The Lords and Ladies were back in the pool this past Saturday, Jan. 30, as they matched up against the Wittenberg University Tigers. Though this meet meant little in terms of the overall standings for the upcoming North Coast Athletic Conference Championship, this meet was of sentimental value to the seniors participating, as they knew it was their last match at the Kenyon Aquatic Center as Kenyon swimmers. That being said, no one wanted to end the regular season on a loss and it showed as the Lords and Ladies topped the Tigers at 163-124 and 175-115, respectively.

Individually, the Lords had multiple standouts, including Delta Tau Delta member Daniel Rooker '12, who won the 200-yard freestyle, fellow Delta Tau Delta brother Michael Mpitsos '11, who swam a leg of Kenyon's 200-yard medley relay and placed first in the 100-yard backstroke, James Martin '11, who won the 50-yard freestyle and placed second in the 100-yard freestyle and Nick Charriez '13, who won the 200-yard butterfly and came in second in the 100-yard butterfly.

The Ladies also had spectacular efforts from multiple individuals. Tina Ertel '10 swam the first leg of the Ladies' first win of the afternoon in the 200-yard medley relay and later claimed first in the 200-yard individual medley. Following Ertel's lead was Lauren Brady '11, who swam the third leg of the same winning 200-yard medley relay, added to it by claiming first in the 50-yard freestyle and finally finished the day by winning the 400-yard individual medley by close to 40 seconds. Finally, Mika Redinger '10 finished the day with a win in the 500-yard freestyle and two second-place finishes, one in the 200-yard medley relay and one in the 100-yard backstroke.

"Overall, I think that the team performed well," Brigid Leavy '10 said. "With this being the last meet before conference, the goal was to get quality races in and set ourselves up nicely to be able to walk into conference riding the momentum from this past weekend. I think that goal was definitely achieved."

The team now looks ahead to the NCAC Championships next week, a task that co-team leader and Delta Tau Delta brother Blair Withington '10 said he feels they are ready for. "We know that Denison is going to be geared up and that only excites us more," he said. "This team has transformed since [Christmas] and really trained well over the break during our camp in Florida. Upperclassmen who haven't played a role on this team previously are beginning to stand up and take charge."

While the Lords and Ladies are fired up and ready for an exciting next few weeks, they realize that there is still work to be done and that that there is only one person that can help them attain their goal of another national championship. "I don't know what to expect [from other teams this year], and frankly it doesn't matter," Rooker said. "We each swim our own individual events and we each swim our own team events; that's all that matters. We swim against ourselves. A person's greatest critical observer and greatest opponent is himself. We expect to do our best and nothing less."

If the Lords and Ladies can remember these meaningful words, there is no reason to expect anything less than an extension of an already lengthy swimming tradition here at Kenyon.

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