February 8, 2012
Contact:
Steve Marovich, Sports Information Director (262) 551-5740
E-Mail: stevemarovich@tds.net or carthagesid@carthage.edu
Carthage Web Page: http://athletics.carthage.edu/index.aspx
Carthage 24-Hour Sports Hotline (262) 551-5388
Men’s Swimming Wins the Wisconsin Private College Championship;
Red Men Play Host to the CCIW Championship on Feb. 16-18
Next Action: The Carthage College men’s swimming team (4-5 dual meet record) play host to the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Swimming Championship on Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 16-18 at the Koenitzer Aquatic Center in Kenosha, Wis. (10:30 a.m./6 p.m. each day).
Last Week: Carthage won the Saturday, Jan. 28 Wisconsin Private College Men’s Swimming Championship at the Koenitzer Aquatic Center in Kenosha, Wis. The Red Men won the six-team event with 300 points, followed by Lawrence University second at 137, Carroll University ((Wis.) third at 86, Ripon College fourth at 58, Beloit College fifth at 56 and the Marquette University club team sixth with 28 points. The state title was the ninth in a row for the Carthage and its 11th overall.
Looking Ahead: The Red Men expect to have several qualifiers for the Wednesday-Saturday, March 21-24 NCAA Division III Swimming Championship at the Indiana University Natatorium on the campus of Indiana-Purdue at Indianapolis.
The Coach: Greg Earhart is in his 10th year as head coach in 2011-12 (71-28 dual-meet record, 10 years thru the 2011-12 season). He was named CCIW “Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year" in 2002, 2006 and 2010 and “Men’s Swimming Co-Coach of the Year” in 2004. Earhart guided the Red Men to conference championships in 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010.
The Polls: Kenyon College was ranked first in the Dec. 19 CollegeSwimming.com/College Swimming Coaches Association of America NCAA Division III poll, followed by Denison University second, Emory University third, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology fourth, Johns Hopkins University fifth, the Stevens Institute of Technology sixth, the College of New Jersey seventh, Williams College eighth, the University of Chicago ninth and Amherst College ranked 10th.
2011 NCAA Championship: Carthage finished 47th at the 2011 NCAA Division III Swimming Championship at the University of Tennessee’s Allan Jones Aquatic Center in Knoxville, Tenn. Carthage had one individual qualifier and five relay teams in the event. Kyle Drake (Sr., Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley) qualified in the 100 backstroke, the 200 backstroke and the 400 individual medley. The Red Men’s five qualifying relay teams were the 200 freestyle, the 400 freestyle, the 800 freestyle, the 200 medley and the 400 medley.
Drake finished 14th in the 200 backstroke (1:50.07) after finishing 11th in last year’s championship. He was 27th in the 400 individual medley (4:08.77) but did not reach the finals in the 100 backstroke. The Red Men’s 400 freestyle relay team of Bob Pellican (Sr., Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey), Blake Bendix (Sr., St. Cloud, Minn./Tech), Ryan Ortmann (Jr., Woodstock, Ill.) and Isaac Rothenbaum (Sr., Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest) finished 20th (3:07.10). The 400 medley relay squad of Drake, Rothenbaum, Bendix and Ortmann finished 22nd (3:30.61). The 800 freestyle relay team of Drake, Rothenbaum, Bendix and Pellican was 22nd (6:56.28). Neither the 200 freestyle relay nor the 200 medley relay team reached the finals. Carthage tied for 50th place at last year’s championship in Minneapolis, Minn.
2011 CCIW Championship: Carthage won the 2011 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Swimming Championship at the Wheaton College (Ill.) Chrouser Fitness Center Pool in Wheaton, Ill. The Red Men won their fifth CCIW title and fourth in a row with 956 points, followed by Wheaton (Ill.) second at 858.50, the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology third at 571, Illinois Wesleyan University fourth at 448, Augustana College (Ill.) fifth at 246.50, Millikin University sixth at 150 and North Central College seventh with 123 points.
2012 Wisconsin Private College Championship: Carthage won the Saturday, Jan. 28 Wisconsin Private College Men’s Swimming Championship at the Koenitzer Aquatic Center in Kenosha, Wis. The Red Men won the six-team event with 300 points, followed by Lawrence University second at 137, Carroll University ((Wis.) third at 86, Ripon College fourth at 58, Beloit College fifth at 56 and the Marquette University club team sixth with 28 points. The state title was the ninth in a row for the Carthage and its 11th overall.
The Conference: The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, in its 66th year in 2011-12, has sponsored men’s swimming as a championship sport since 1947, and North Central College won 18 of the league’s first 22 titles. Wheaton College (Ill.) has won 25 titles, all since 1972. The Thunder’s record includes 17-of-21 championships since 1983, six in a row from 1990 to 1995 and nine straight from 1997 to 2005. Carthage College snapped Wheaton’s nine-year streak by claiming the 2006 title, and the Red Men also won the 2008-11 championships. In 2007-08, the CCIW added the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, located in Terre Haute, Ind., as an associate conference member for men’s and women’s swimming. Rose-Hulman, a member of the Heartland Conference in all other sports, is the CCIW’s first associate member.
CCIW Swimmer of the Week: Carl Sveen (Jr., Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton-Warrenville South) was named the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin “Men’s Swimmer of the Week” on Feb. 7. Sveen won the 500 freestyle with an un-tapered best time of 4:58.4 during a double-dual meet with Illinois Wesleyan University and North Central College on Feb. 4. He also finished third in the 200 IM with an un-tapered best time of 2:04.18.
Jan. 28 Wisconsin Private College Championship Notes: The Red Men won two relays. The team of Kyle Drake (Sr., Aurora, Ill./Waubonsie Valley), Sam Hoffman (Fr., Maple Grove, Minn./Maple Grove), Aaron Dobben (Fr., La Porte, Ind./La Porte) and Adam Glover (Sr., Eureka, Mo./Eureka won the 200 freestyle relay (1:32.29), and the team of Doug Schranck (Sr., Alton, Ill./Marquette Catholic), Krzysztof Kowal (Sr., Mokena, Ill./Frankfort—Lincoln-Way East), Jake Carabelli (Jr., South Beloit, Ill./Rockton-Hononegah) and Connor McCurrie (So., Wilmette, Ill./Mundelein-Carmel Catholic) took first place in the 800 free relay (7:30.99). Drake, Schranck, Glover and Hoffman also had other individual victories, Drake in the 100 butterfly (53.70), Schranck in the 200 IM (2:03.94), Glover in the 200 freestyle (1:52.08) and Hoffman in the 500 freestyle (5:15.90).
Carthage also collected victories from Teryn Solun (Fr., St. John, Ind./Lake Central) in the 1,650 freestyle (16:40.25), Eric Ross (Sr., West Lafayette, Ind./Harrison) in the 400 IM (4:26.41), Scott Pinter (So., Bloomington, Ill./Normal-Community) in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.18), Brennan Reynolds (Fr., Milwaukee, Wis./Marquette University High School) in the 200 butterfly (2:13.28), and Ryan Ortmann (Sr., Woodstock, Ill./Woodstock) in the 50 freestyle (21.99) and the 100 freestyle (49.09).