March 1, 2003
The Western Kentucky University swim and diving team placed three swimmers in the top eight of three events paced by Chad Waits (So., Shelbyville, Ky.) record-breaking performance in the 200 Butterfly and Karl Swanson (Fr., Bowling Green, Ky.)'s second-place finish in the 1650 Freestyle on Saturday in the final day of National Independent Championships to finish third in its final meet of the season.
The Hilltoppers finished the four-day event with 538 points - 10 ahead of host Oakland University. The finish was WKU's highest since finishing second during the 1999-2000 season. Southern Methodist won the meet for the second straight year with 771 points followed by Hawai'i with 676. Florida Atlantic finished fifth 398 points, followed by Louisiana-Monroe (301) and Denver (230).
Waits broke the 3-year old mark of Craig Evans and led five swimmers in the top 12 of the 200 Butterfly with a time of 1:49.31. Evans time of 1:50.25 was set Feb. 25, 2000. Waits finished fourth at the meet followed by Greg Strickler (So., Midland, Mich.) in sixth (1:50.98), Alex Handley (So., Kensington, England) in seventh (1:52.18), Jay Smith (Jr., Hopkinsville, Ky.) in 11th (1:53.59) and Ryan Crosby (Jr., Escondido, Calif.) in 12th (1:53.70).
Swanson got WKU off to a quick start on the final day with a time of 15:37.93 in the 1650 Freestyle to finish second. He was joined by Kevin Kleman (Jr., Lakeside Park, Ky.) (15:58.83) and James Campbell (Fr., Dacula, Ga.) (16:11.11), who finished fifth and seventh, respectively. The Hilltoppers followed that success with three finishing in the top eight of the 200 Backstroke. Gord Veldman (Sr., Kingston, Ontario) led the trio finishing fourth in 1:48.23. Nick Bracco (So., Leawood, Kan.) was sixth (1:49.30) and Paul Graves (So., Louisville, Ky.) eighth (1:51.82). Jerrod Janes (Sr., Carlsbad, N.M.) kept things going with a fifth place finish in the 100 Freestyle (44.94). The time of 44.94 was Janes' best of the season and is matches the B-cut qualifying standard for the NCAA Championships. Chris Tarter (Fr., Campbellsville, Ky.) added a 10th-place finish in the 200 Breaststroke with a time of 2:07.48.
On the women's side, the Lady Toppers had three top 10 results and finished fifth with 206 points. Oakland edged Northern Arizona 896 to 895 for first. Florida Atlantic was third (692) and North Florida was fourth (433).
Jordan Beck (Fr., Normandy, Tenn.) was third in the 200 Butterfly (2:06.57) in a WKU-best 2:06.57. Western had two in the top 10 of the 200 Breaststroke. Sarah Besco (Jr., Dayton, Ohio) was fourth (2:25.69) and Lori Ludwiczak (So., Owensboro, Ky.) 10th (2:27.65).
Individual Results From NIC, Day 3
Event Place Competitor(s) Time Points
1650 Freestyle 2nd Karl Swanson 15:37.93 17
5th Kevin Kleman 15:58.83 14
7th James Campbell 16:11.11 12
200 Backstroke 4th Gord Veldman 1:48.23 15
6th Nick Bracco 1:49.30 13
8th Paul Graves 1:51.82 11100 Freestyle 5th Jerrod Janes 44.94 14 15th Drew Aldridge 46.98 2200 Breaststroke 10th Chris Tarter 2:07.48 8200 Butterfly 4th Chad Waitrs 1:49.31* 15 6th Greg Strickler 1:50.98 13 7th Alex Handley 1:52.18 12 11th Jay Smith 1:53.59 7 12th Ryan Crosby 1:53.70 6400 Freestyle Relay 4th Gord Veldman, Jerrod Janes 3:02.64 30 Nick Bracco, Matt Nalbonne- WKU-
