Polar Bears finish second at 2008 OAC Championships

Feb. 16, 2008

By Tim Glon

AKRON — The Ohio Northern women’s swimming and diving team (7-4 overall, 4-0 OAC) finished a very close second at the OAC Championships meet Thu.-Sat. at the University of Akron.

The Polar Bears finished with 257 points, just nine points behind John Carroll, who won the team title with 266 points. Mount Union was third with 151, Baldwin-Wallace was fourth with 100 and Wilmington was fifth with 91.

The Polar Bears won the 2008 OAC Regular Season title with a 4-0 record.

Freshman Hannah Bukowy (North Canton/Hoover) led ONU with four OAC titles.

She swept the breast stroke events, winning the 100 breast in an OAC record and NCAA “B” cut time of 1:07.18.

She won the 200 breast in 2:27.41 and was part of the winning 200 and 400 medley relay teams. She was All-OAC in five events overall.

Bukowy, sophomore Katherine Moore (Chicago, Ill./Marian Catholic), sophomore Lacey Shumate (Bucyrus/Colonel Crawford) and freshman Cassie Fennell (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) won the 200 medley relay in an ONU and OAC record time of 1:51.00.

Bukowy, Moore, Shumate and sophomore Kim Randall (Milford) won the 400 medley relay in 4:06.29.

Moore also won the 100 fly in 1:00.17 and is now an 8-time OAC champion and 12-time All-Conference honoree.

Shumate also defended her 2007 OAC titles in the 200 back (2:12.34) and 400 I.M. (4:48.33) after missing most of the 2008 season with an injury.

In two seasons, she is now a nine-time OAC Champion and a 13-time All-OAC performer.

Shumate was also named the 2007 OAC Women’s Swimmer of the Year last winter.

Sophomore Jillian Huber (Glandorf/Ottawa-Glandorf) defended her 2007 title in the 100 back, winning the 2008 crown in 1:01.77. She also won the 200 I.M. in 2:13.58 and earned All-OAC honors in the 200 back with a second place finish in 2:12.79 and as a member of the 400 and 800 free relay teams.

Huber is now a four-time OAC Champion and an 8-time All-OAC performer.

Sophomore Terri Lynn Shigle (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford) earned All-OAC kudos in the 10meter diving, finishing second with a score of 353.93 points. She won the 2007 OAC crown in the event.

Sophomore Kim Randall (Milford) also earned All-OAC honors with a second place finish in the 200 free in 2:00.06, a third place finish in the 200 back in 2:17.11 and as a part of the second place 200, 400 and 800 free relay teams. Randall is now a three-time OAC champion and an eight-time All-OAC honoree.

Fennell also earned All-OAC honors in the 100 back, finishing second in 1:03.22, and as part of the 200 and 400 free relay teams.

Sophomore Janelle Cain (Perry) earned All-OAC honors as part of ONU’s 800 free relay team.

Bukowy will now wait until the NCAA Division III Championships field is released on Fri. to see if she will compete March 13-15 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.