By: Ryan Sosic '19
STEUBENVILLE, Ohio. – The Baldwin Wallace University women's swimming and diving team swept a pair of non-conference dual matches against Franciscan University and the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford in the Steubenville High School Natatorium.
BW (7-6) defeated Franciscan by a final score of 165-61 and Pitt-Bradford by a score of 171-14.
The Yellow Jackets were led by junior All-OAC freestyler Olivia Jacob (Canton/McKinley), junior Academic All-OAC diver/stroker Ellie Clymer (Independence) and junior All-Ohio Athletic Conference stroker Erika Nockengost (Cuyahoga Falls), who all claimed two victories. Jacob came in first with a season-best time of 2:29.07 in the 200-yard individual medley and finished at the top of the 500-yard freestyle after posting a time of 5:34.75.
Clymer posted season-bests in both the five-meter dive and the six-meter dive with scores of 158.70 and 201.40, helping her earn two first-place finishes. Nockengost touched the wall first in the 100-yard breaststroke, posting a time of 1:15.84, while also registering a season-best time of 57.47 in the 100-yard freestyle to claim the top spot.
Also picking up victories were freshman stroker Bella Ratino (Mentor/Hawken), sophomore stroker Lauren Martello (Huron/Sandusky) and sophomore All-OAC stroker Marissa Kural (LaGrange, Ill. / Lyons Township). Ratino registered a first-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke with a career-best and season-best time of 1:04.07. Martello (Huron/Sandusky) earned a victory in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 27.58. Kural had a career-best and season-best time of 2:08.40 to earn a victory in the 200-yard freestyle and finished as the runner-up in the 100-yard backstroke with a season-best time of 1:07.08.
In addition, senior All-OAC and Academic All-OAC stroker Sarah Krupp (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South) finished as the runner-up in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:33.74 and captured a third-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly, posting a time of 1:11.31. Freshman stroker Kayla McClintock (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township) finished second in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:12.39 and claimed a third-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle after registering a time of 5:51.93. Senior freestyler Claire Onchuck (Darrien, Ill./Hinsdale South) finished the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 101.20, good for a second-place finish, and also finished third in the 50-yard freestyle with a 27.91. Junior freestyler Jenna Ball (Salamanca, N.Y./Salamanca) took second in the 50-yard freestyle after registering a time of 27.79 and took third with a time of 1:01.21 in the 100-yard freestyle.
In relay action, the 200-yard medley team of Kural, Nockengost, Ball and junior stroker Alyssa Mahle (Aurora) won the event with a season-best time of 2:01.20. The team of Onchuck, Mclintock, freshman stroker Emily Newcamp (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) and Martello finished third in that same event after posting a time of 2:11.07. The 200-yard freestyle team of Ratino, Clymer, Jacob and junior All-OAC freestyler Allie Thorson (Amherst/Marion Steele) finished in first place after posting a season-best time of 1:52.47.
BW closes out the 2018-19 regular season on Saturday, February 2 when it hosts a non-conference dual against crosstown rival Case Western Reserve University and NCAA Division II Ursuline College in the BW Natatorium on Seniors' Day at 1 p.m.
The 2019 OAC Swimming and Diving Championships will be contested on February 14-16 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.
