011711 NEACboys
Promo: General boys place third in NEAC Swim Championships
Plenty of plusses for DeHaan out of NEAC meet
By Brian Questel
If nothing else, the Northeast Aquatic Conference will guarantee a good race.
A year after Wooster edged Youngstown Boardman by 11 points to win the 2010 title, Boardman emerged on top of 2011s championship race by a mere seven points over Canfield, 382-375. The Generals were third with 333 points, putting the top three teams well in front of fourth-place Warren Harding (260) and GlenOak (257). Massillon Perry (217), Kent (153) and Massillon (105) rounded out the 8-team field.
Generals coach Jeff DeHaan wasnt disappointed with the Generals drop into third place.
Not at all. Im pretty excited with how the guys competed, said DeHaan, who counted numerous personal bests throughout the meet. Weve turned the corner and were ready to finish the season strong. Im looking forward to the (Ohio Cardinal Conference) this weekend and continuing our winning ways in the conference.
We lost 26 percent of our scoring from our winning team with two guys. (Alex McCord and Clay Matthew) scored 105 points out of our 395, which is a lot to make up. We had a good freshman class coming in, but you cant expect them to take over for two seniors. Those freshmen had 40 points, which is impressive for first-year swimmers in a championship meet.
To make up100 points is a huge task and I think we performed well to get 333. We were definitely competitive and where we should be. I knew it would be a three-team race and they battled it out for first, but we werent close to fourth. We were where we should have been. Being 30-40 points off the lead, I dont feel bad at all.
Boardman lost only one guy, and he was their second flyer, noted DeHaan. They were only 11 points behind us last year and lost only one guy. Its tough to make that up. They were the better team and they would have won the trifecta if we hadnt foiled that with a tie with Canfield (in the NEAC relays).
The Generals top finish in the meet was a runner-up effort from Chase Hooley in the 200 IM with his 2:05.98, who returned to the water in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.57) to place third.
Wooster and Hooley opened the meet with a third-place in the medley relay as Garrett Jentes, Jacob Ackerman and Phillip Mitchell joined him as the foursome turned a 1:46.76. The 200 free relay also claimed bronze in the 200 free as Hooley, Danny Jones, B.J. Graham and Mitchell touched in 1:34.46.
Ackerman was also part of a third-place 400-yard free relay, joining Danny Jones, Graham and Jentes en route to a 3:32.62, and the junior rounded out his meet with a third in the 100 butterfly (57.76) and an eighth in the 200 IM (2:16.25).
Ackerman was on fire, said DeHaan. He finished third in 100 fly, where he was seeded sixth, and was had his personal best dropping four-tenths with a 57.76 (21st all-time). He had a season-best for his IM (2:16.25), a PB for his fly split (25.53) in the medley relay and his 100 free split (53.77 in the 400 relay) was his first time under 54.
Danny Jones was fourth in the 100 back (59.66) and fifth in the 200 free (1:57.55), while Jentes was fourth in the 500 (5:20.48). Sevenths were collected by Kalten Walter in the 100 fly (1:02.67) and Graham in the 100 free (54.5), while eighths were registered by Cooper Orr, who scored 182.7 points for a PB in diving, junior Joel Jones in the 50 (24.18), Graham in the 200 free (2:01.9) and Daniel Cabrera (5:36.03) in the 500 free.
Bryan Parker, a freshman, had an incredible 24.92 in the 50 and a 55.62 in 100 free and scored in both, said DeHaan. He barely missed the podium with a ninth in the 50 and a 12th in the 100. Another freshman, B.J. Graham, made the podium eighth in the 200 (2:01.90), plus his thirds with the 200 and 400 relays.
Wooster hosted the Ohio Cardinal Conference diving Friday night, while the OCC swimming began at 10 a.m. at Mansfield Malabar.
Our OCC record is on the line, said DeHaan, whose team has won the first seven OCC titles. This is a crucial week of training and preparation.
