Season Preview: Women's Swimming & Diving look to reclaim OAC Championships crown in 2016-17

By Tom McArdle

ADA — The Ohio Northern women's swimming and diving team will look to defend its Ohio Athletic Conference Regular Season title and hopes to get back on top of the OAC Championships team standings in 2016-17 under 13th-year head coach Peggy Ewald.

Northern won the OAC Regular Season title with a 3-1 record last season, but finished third in the OAC Championships meet. Ten letterwinners return from the 2015-16 squad, including an OAC Champion and four All-OAC honorees.

Senior Molly Wheeler (Sylvania/Northview), juniors Hailee Sautter (Mansfield/Lexington) and Sydney Veon (Riverside, Ill./Brookfield) and sophomore Kierra Watson (Brownsburg, Ind.) all return this season after being named All-OAC in 2016.

Veon is a returning OAC Champion in the 200 and 400 free relays, helping the Polar Bears set school and OAC records in the 400 free relay in 3:32.55.

She is a strong freestyle swimmer, earning All-Conference accolades in the 50 free in :24.48. Veon was also fourth in the 100 free in 54.31 at the OAC Championship meet.

Wheeler took fourth place in the 100 breast and sixth place in the 200 breast. She was also seventh in the 200 I.M. and helped the 200 medley relay team take second place.

Sautter was on the 800 free relay team that earned All-Conference honors with a second place finish.

Watson returns after a great freshman season, placing third in the 200 back in 2:08.94. She also placed fourth in the 100 back and fifth in the 400 I.M.

Also returning to the team are seniors Stephanie Brookens (Louisville), Stacie Melody (Dublin/Jerome), Kelsey Brebberman (Maumee) and Brianna Tingley (Dexter, Mich.), juniors Maggie Dempster (Akron/Firestone) and Kasey Mucher (Arlington, Tex./Oakridge) and sophomores MacKenzie Kaschalk (Terrace Park/Mariemont) and Kaitlin Rubottom (Long Beach, Calif./Millikan).

Brookens returns after a one-year absence and looks to challenge for All-OAC honors in the 50 and 100 free after finishing fourth in the league in both events in 2014-15.

Melody swims a variety of events and placed in the 100 and 200 back events at the OAC Championships.

Brebberman competed in the 200 back and 400 I.M. and Tingley took eighth place in the 400 I.M. and ninth place in the 1,650 Free.

Dempster will transition from diving to swimming events in this season.

Mucher contributed in various events, including a fourth place finish in the 400 I.M.

Kaschalk swam in breaststroke and free events and Rubottom looks to contribute in breastroke events this year.

The Polar Bears will welcome six freshmen to the team in 2016-17.

"We are a small team this season," Ewald said. "It's a season to build the foundation with not just talent but more importantly with great core values and attitudes. The focus has been on team building and skill acquisition. We need to do the basics better and then we can shift the focus in other directions. We are going into the season with a strong senior and returning group which will help the underclass student-athletes find the balance sooner and to build that team environment needed to reach our goals. We have some ground to cover, but so far we have seen great effort from the entire team. We've seen the characteristics in their effort that can produce the catalyst needed to do great things."

Northern will open its season Oct. 15 at the Kenyon Relays and the Denison Diving Meet.

ONU will host dual meets with Wilmington, Wittenberg, Oberlin and Baldwin Wallace and will compete at the OAC Championships Feb. 16-18 at the University of Akron's Ocasek Natatorium.