OAC Swimming Championship, Day 3 Prelims- Women

Posted: Feb 18, 2017

AKRON- The Wilmington College women'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 Elyse Spraul (Cincinnati, OH/Mount Notre Dame) was the top finisher for the Fightin' Quakers and also qualified for tonight's consolation heat. She finished her prelims swim in 2:21.92 and is currently ranked 14th. Sophomore Ellyse Herr (Edison, OH/Mount Gilead) will serve as tonight's second alternate with her 2:29.81, eighteenth-place finish this morning. Freshman Laura Swinehart (Lancaster, OH/Fairfield Union) finished just behind Herr, barely missing qualification for this evening's finals, with a 2:38.53 for 19th.
Junior Samantha Glish (Louisville, KY/Ballard) will be the lone Fightin' Quaker to compete in tonight's championship heat of the 100-yard freestyle. Glish completed her prelims swim in 55.01 and is currently ranked sixth. Freshman Hannah Houston (Morrow, OH/Wilmington) will swim in the 100-yard freestyle consolation heat, as she is currently sitting 10th with a 56.26. Freshman Alyssa Rogers (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge) will join her in the consolation heat, as the 14th seed with a time of 56.96.
Senior Kathryn Spitznogle (Waynesville, OH/Waynesville) also competed in the preliminaries of the 100-yard freestyle, finishing just out of contention for finals, 20th with a time of 59.98. Other competitors in the 100-yard freestyle included: Junior Savanna Burcham (Urbana, OH/Urbana) clocked in with a 1:02.49 for 24th, junior Natalie Thobe (Piqua, OH/Piqua) touched the wall in 1:06.58 for 27th, and junior Sarah Heitkamp (Portland, IN/Jay County) posted a 1:10.78, earning 27th.
Sophomore Susan Householder (Lancaster, OH/Lancaster) will serve as tonight's first alternate in the 200-yard breaststroke. She finished her prelims race in 3:00.36 and is currently ranked 17th. Just behind her, tonight's second alternate, is senior Jordynn Wise (Bryan, OH/Bryan) who completed her eight laps this morning in 3:10.80 for 18th.
Rogers, senior Haley Rowland (Fairborn, OH/Xenia Christian), Householder, and Spraul joined together for a 400-yard freestyle relay. The quartet finished in 4:27.89, earning the team the seventh seed for tonight's finals.