Official G-MAC/MEC S&D Championship Page
Final Results (PDF)
CANTON, Ohio – In wire-to-wire fashion, Findlay pieced together as dominant of a stretch as the program could have hoped for as the inaugural Great Midwest Athletic Conference/Mountain East Conference Swimming & Diving Championships concluded on Saturday.
With six programs from the Great Midwest and four from the Mountain East matching wits against each other in the C.T. Branin Natatorium since Wednesday, the excitement was elevated to different level on the final day.
Seniors from competing institutions were recognized as they walked out to support from their teammates. The Mountain East also had quite a day to remember, putting the exclamation point on the combined meet with a thrilling win in the men’s 400-meter relay.
The Oilers of Findlay will be transporting their fair share of hardware back to campus after winning both men’s and women’s team championships and racking up a total of 33 event wins with two individuals earning six first-place finishes each.
One of those standouts was Findlay senior Ben Rath, who was the winner of the 200, 500, 1,000, 1,650 and a relay. His singular dominance in the water resulted in G-MAC/MEC Men’s Swimmer of the Meet honors.
Rath swam the 1,650, an event comparable to the grueling 10K with track and field, with top times in the preliminaries and final. The 1,650 distance is nearly 70 lengths up-and-down the pool.
Rath was proficient in the distance events all week, with 40 lengths also swum in the 1,000-meter freestyle. Rath and his teammates now have their sights set on nationals with a handful of NCAA B-cuts in their pocket.
Teammate Janko Radmanovic also stood at the podium in first place for six events; he had entered and finished his seven events by Thursday. Matching Rath and Radmanovic numbers wise was Amanda Stiegal on the women’s side as she was first in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and four different relays.
UF earned eight total event titles on Saturday while the Mountain East had four, including three from Fairmont State (100 freestyle, 200 breastroke, 400 freestyle relay) and the first one for West Virginia Wesleyan (200 breaststroke).
As voted upon by the 10 coaches in attendance, awards were presented to several other individuals for their efforts. UF’s Andrew Makepeace was named the G-MAC/MEC Women’s Coach of the Year while host university Malone celebrated G-MAC/MEC Men’s Coach of the Year plaudits for Russ Hunt.
The Pioneers finished second in the men’s team scoring and third in the women’s. Hillsdale was the women’s runner-up.
Fairmont State’s Courtney Deem won the 200, 500 and 1,000 freestyle events to capture G-MAC/MEC Women’s Swimmer of the Meet. The MEC won nine total events over the four-day span.
Additional all-conference honors will be announced for Great Midwest-only student-athletes. The Mountain East will also announce league-specific honors at a later time.