Michael Schultz breaks school record in 200 free on Day 2 of NCAA Division III Championships

Mar. 21, 2008

By Tim Glon

OXFORD — Ohio Northern freshman Michael Schultz broke his own school record in the 200-yard freestyle on the second day of the NCAA Division III Men's Swimming and Diving Championships Friday afternoon at the University of Miami's Corwin M. Nixon Aquatic Center.

Schultz finished in 32nd place out of 41 swimmers in 1:43.49, which shaved .65 of a second off his previous school record of 1:44.14.

"Michael learned from yesterday's swim and had a great effort today," ONU head coach Peggy Ewald said. "You can't ask for anything more. Now he's ready for his best event tomorrow."

Schultz will compete in each of the three days of the NCAA Championships.

He will also swim in the 1650 freestyle on Saturday afternoon at approximately 4:30 pm. He will enter the event with the 16th fastest qualifying time of 16:00.82.

The top eight swimmers in each event earn All-America honors and the next eight finishers earn Honorable Mention All-America honors.

On Thursday, Schultz finished in 4:43.16 in the 500-yard freestyle, which was good for 31st place in the event.

Schultz was named the OAC Men's Swimmmer of the Year in February, leading the Polar Bears to their third consecutive OAC Championships title.

He won six events, including the 1650 free, the 500 free and the 100 fly, and was part of ONU's winning 400 free, 800 free and 400 medley relay teams.

Schultz shattered a 24-year old OAC record, broke his own ONU record and bettered the NCAA "B" cut in the 1650-yard free, winning the event in 16:00.82. He topped the previous mark of 16:23.06 set in 1984 by Andy Regrut of Kenyon.

He also broke the Ocasek Natatorium record in the 1000 free with a 9:39.25 clocking at the 1,000-yard mark of his 1650 swim. The previous mark of 9:39.33 was set in 2001 by Tom Rushton of Kenyon.