Men's Swimming & Diving wins fifth consecutive Ohio Athletic Conference Championships title

Michael Schultz

By Tim Glon

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AKRON -- The Ohio Northern men's swimming and diving team captured its fifth consecutive Ohio Athletic Conference Championships title with a victory at the 2009 OAC Championships meet Saturday night at the University of Akron's Ocasek Natatorium.

The Polar Bears won 14 of 20events to win the three-day Championships crown with 303 points. Baldwin-Wallace was second with 202 points and John Carroll was third with 164 points.

Sophomore Michael Schultz was named the OAC Men's Swimmer of the Year for the second consecutive year and Senior George Chesney was named the Co-OAC Men's Diver of the Year.

ONU head coach Peggy Ewald and her staff were named the 2009 OAC Men's Coaching Staff of the Year.

Schultz defended his title in the 1650 free, winning in an Ocasek Natatorium, OAC and ONU record 15:45.82. Schultz had lapped the field near the midway point of the race and finished with a 54-second cushion over the second place finisher.

His time also surpassed the NCAA A Cut in the event, bettered the Ocasek Nataorium record by 2.48 seconds and broke his own ONU and OAC record by more than 14 seconds.

His split of 9:31.53 broke his own ONU 1,000-yard record and missed the Ocasek Nataorium record by just .90 of a second.

He completed the sweep of the distance events, winning the 200 and 55 free events earlier in the weekend.  

Shultz also combined with senior Brett Kuhn, freshman Anders Samuelson and sophomore Garrett Dauch to win the 400 free relay in an OAC and ONU record and NCAA B Cut time of 3:07.17.

Kuhn led the leadoff leg in the OAC Champion 400 free relay team for each of the past four seasons and finished his carer as ONU's all-time career leader with 15 OAC titles.

Chesney earned All-OAC kudos in the 1-meter diving, finishing second for the second consecutive season with a school-record score of score of 466.50.

Chesney won the 3-meter diving competition for the second consecutive time on Friday.

The Polar Bears put five in the finals of the 200 back, and finished 1-3 with freshman Ryan Bender leading the way in an OAC and ONU record effort of 1:55.27.

Dauch earned All-Conference honors for the second straight year with a third place finish in 1:58.20. Dauch had set the ONU record with a 1:57.51 clocking in the prelims Saturday morning.

Sophomore Ryan Oberst rallied in the final 25 yards to win the 200 breast in 2:12.90. Andy Garlock also earned All-OAC honors in the event, finishing third in 2:13.91.

Kuhn and Samuelson finished 2-3 and earned All-Conference honors in the 100 free. Kuhn, the defending champ in the event, was edged at the wall and finished in 47.18 seconds, while Samuelson was right behind in 47.37.

Kuhn set the school record with a 46.98 clocking in the prelims Saturday morning and ended his career as a three-time All-OAC honoree in the event, with the 2008 title to his credit.