Luther Finishes 30th at National Championships
March 24, 2008
Following three full days of competition at the NCAA III Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, Luther placed 30th with a point total of 19 points. The College of Wooster hosted the three-day meet at Miami University's Corwin M. Nixon Aquatic Center in Oxford, Ohio March 20-22.
The Norse reached the consolation finals in three relay events, earning honorable mention All-America honors. The top-eight place winners both individually or as a member of a relay team are considered All-Americans and the next eight are considered honorable mention.
This list of relays included the 400 medley, 200 freestyle and 200 medley. Cameron Webb (Carroll, Iowa), Michael Pettengill (Vinton, Iowa), Eric Crawford (Des Moines, Iowa/Lincoln) and Taylor Nelson (Decorah, Iowa) placed 15th in the 400 medley relay from the field of 20 teams with a time of 3:28.96.
Nelson, Ben Skutnik (Hastings, Neb.), Crawford and Webb placed 15th from the field of 22 teams in the 200 freestyle relay touching the wall in 1:24.46.
Webb, Pettengill, Crawford and Nelson set a school record in the 200 medley relay, posting a time of 1:34.19 in the preliminary round. This foursome placed 15th from the field of 24 teams following a mark of 1:34.88 in the consolation finals.
Webb, Nelson, Skutnik and Crawford set a new school record in the 400 freestyle during the last day of competition. The Norse were clocked at 3:07.72 and placed 20th. This foursome also swam the 800 freestyle relay on day two, but failed to reach the top-16, placing 20th with a time of 7:03.14.
Individually, Pettengill placed tenth in the 200 breaststroke, recording a new school record of 2:03.65 in the process. Pettengill also swam the 100 breaststroke, missing the top-16 by .26, posting a time of 57.59.
Nelson, Skutnik and Webb competed in the 50 freestyle and placed 29th (21.26), 31st (21.33) and 35th (21.45) respectively.
Complete team scores - National Championship web site
