Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Teams Fall to Wooster on Seniors’ Day

BW honored its 10 swimming and diving senior student-athletes prior to the meet

Posted: Jan 25, 2020

BEREA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University men's and women's swimming and diving team closed out the home portion of their schedule as they fell to the College of Wooster in the BW Natatorium inside the Lou Higgins Center.

The BW men (2-7) fell to Wooster (8-3) by a final score of 152-143. The Yellow Jacket women (6-4) fell to the Fighting Scots (8-3) by a final score of 182-105

The men were led by freshman stroker Austin Olsavsky (Medina) as he won the Olsavsky won the 100-yard freestyle in a career-best time of 50.34 seconds, the 200-yard freestyle in a career-best time of 1:48.05 and the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 5:03.81.

Picking up a pair of wins were senior All-OAC performer Greg Shaw (Colorado Springs, Colo./Manitou Springs), sophomore All-Ohio Athletic Conference performer Michael Lewis (Lancaster) and freshman diver Zachary Pierce (Spring, Texas/Klein Collins). Shaw won the 100-yard butterfly in a time of 54.04 and the 200-yard butterfly in a season-best time of 2:03.87. Lewis captured the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 59.50 seconds and the 200-yard breaststroke in a time of 2:13.61 and finished second in the 200-yard individual medley in a time of 1:59.67. Pierce, who is this week's OAC Athlete of the Week, won the 1-meter and five-dive event with a total of 170.30 points and the 1-meter and six-dive event with 298.35 points.

In addition, Junior Academic All-OAC performer Matthew Butt (Westfield Center/Cloverleaf) was the runner-up in the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 22.92 and took third in the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1:53.21. Junior stroker Michael Morsch (Phoenix, Ariz./Notre Dame Preparatory) was the runner-up in the 100-yard backstroke in a time of 55.81, the 100-yard butterfly in a career-best time of 55.43 and the 200-yard backstroke in a time of 2:03.40. Senior All-OAC diver Evan Rinaldi (Cleveland/Cleveland Heights) was third in the 1-meter and five-dive event with a total of points. Junior freestyler Connor Hartup (Westlake) finished third in the 1000-yard freestyle in a time of 11:37.05. Freshman Immanuel Ayangoke (Jacksonville, Fla./Bolles Academy) was third in the 200-yard butterfly in a career-best time of 2:15.97.

In relay action, the 200-medley team of Morsch, Lewis, Shaw and Butt touched the wall first in a time of 1:39.66. The 200-freestyle unit of Olsavsky, Shaw, freshman stroker Nathan Massey (Columbus/Centennial) and Ayangoke finished second in a time of 1:32.03.

The women's team was led by senior Academic All-OAC stroker Marissa Kural (LaGrange, Ill./Lyons Township) and sophomore All-OAC performer Bella Ratino (Mentor/Hawken) as the duo each won a pair of events. Kural won the 100-yard butterfly in a time of 1:00.94 and the 200-yard butterfly in a BW Natatorium-record time of 2:14.89. Ratino won the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 5:22.03 and the 1000-yard freestyle in a time of 11:20.21.

In addition, senior Academic All-OAC performer Ellie Clymer (Independence) placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:13.53, second in the 1-meter and five-dive event with 139.55 points and third in the 200-yard breaststroke in a time of 2:42.78. Senior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC performer Erika Nockengost (Cuyahoga Falls) finished second in the 100-yard freestyle in a time of 57.12, second in the 100-yard butterfly in a time of 1:02.64 and third in the 50-yard freestyle in a season-best time of 26.34. Sophomore Kayla McClintock (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) was the runner-up in the 200-yard backstroke in a career-best time of 2:24.41 and the 1000-yard freestyle in a season-best time of 11:32.17. Senior All-OAC freestyler Allie Thorson (Amherst/Marion Steele) took second in the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 5:35.18. Freshman stroker Julia Newbould (Strongsville) placed second in the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 26.30 seconds. Freshman stroker LynnDee Popovich (Middleburg Heights/Reichelshelm Academy) took third in the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:16.06. Junior diver Meg Reynold (Sheffield Village/Grafton) was third in the 1-meter and five-dive event with 97.75 total points and

In relay action, the 200-medley team of Ratino, Clymer, Kural and Newbould took second in a time of 1:56.13. The 200-freestyle squad of Kural, McClintock, senior freestyler Jenna Ball (Salamanca, N.Y.) and Nockengost placed second in a time of 1:45.24.

BW closes out the 2019-20 season on Saturday, February 1 when it travels to Cleveland for a non-conference dual against crosstown rival Case Western Reserve University in the Veale Natatorium at 1 p.m.

The Yellow Jacket host the three-day Ohio Athletic Conference Championships on Thursday-Saturday, February 13-15 at the Ocasek Natatorium on the campus of the University of Akron. Preliminary action begins each day at 10 a.m. with finals to be held each night at 6 p.m.