OAC Swimming Championship, Day 3 Prelims- Men

Posted: Feb 18, 2017

AKRON- The Wilmington College men's swimming team competed in the final prelim session of the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) Championship Saturday morning. The top sixteen times in each event from this morning's session will swim, again, in finals this evening. The top eight times will swim in the championship heat, and the bottom eight in the consolation heat. Swims during the finals session are the only swims eligible for team points.

Saturday's prelims consisted of: 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly, and 400-yard freestyle relay. The 1650-yard freestyle will also be contested today, as a timed final event. Though all but the top eight seeds competed during the prelims session, complete results and rankings will not be available until the conclusion of the event in this evening's finals.

HOW IT HAPPENED

In the 200-yard backstroke, senior David Spraul (Cincinnati, OH/Princeton) posted a 1:59.38. He will be the lone Fightin' Quaker in tonight's championship heat, as he is currently seeded seventh. Sophomore Lawrence Daya (North Canton, OH/Glen Oak) qualified for this evening's consolation heat with a time of 2:09.84. He is currently seeded fourteenth.
WC will field two athletes in the championship heat of the 100-yard freestyle. Sophomore Andrew Stewart (Wilmington, OH/Clinton-Massie) is currently seeded fourth with his prelims time of 46.63. Senior Brendan Tirado (Dayton, OH/Oakwood) will join him in the championship heat, as the seventh-fastest seed, with a time of 47.81. Freshman Jared Shoemaker (Springfield, OH/Shawnee) found himself just out of contention for tonight's finals, as he finished prelims 20th with a 54.43.
The consolation heat of the 200-yard breaststroke will be full of Fightin' Quakers this evening. Junior Cody Nash (Kingsburg, CA/Kingsburg) set the pace this morning, finishing his prelims swim in 2:12.62 for ninth. Freshman Freddie Snowden (Frisco, TX/Lone Star) finished immediately behind, in tenth, with a time of 2:14.80. Also qualifying for the consolation heat were junior Alex Tillapaugh (Wilmington, OH/Wickenburg) and freshman Brody Morris (Leesburg, OH/Washington Senior) as the 14th and 16th-fastest seeds, respectively. Their respective times from this morning's session were 2:22.78 and 2:29.86. Sophomore Jared Riffle (Gallipolis, OH/Gallia Academy) will serve as tonight's second alternate, as he completed his morning swim in 2:43.29 and is currently ranked 18th.
Junior David Bellus (Upper Marlboro, MD/Northmont) is the top seed for the Fightin' Quakers going into tonight's finals of the 200-yard butterfly. Bellus will swim as the eighth seed in the championship heat. He will be seeded with his preliminary time of 2:00.60. Senior Erik Spraul (Cincinnati, OH/Princeton) goes into tonight as the top seed for the consolation heat. His prelim effort of 2:00.84 afforded him ninth. Sophomore Andrew Haga (Gahanna, OH/Westerville South) will join E. Spraul in the consolation heat as the 11th seed with a time of 2:03.73.
To close out the session, D. Spraul, Tillapaugh, Morris, and Tirado joined together for a 400-yard freestyle relay. The quartet touched the wall in 3:23.71. With this time, the Fightin' Quakers will be seeded fourth this evening.