NCAC 20th Anniversary

Edited: 5/26/04

DENISON'S COLE, WOOSTER'S HEISING HEAD NORTH COAST'S 20TH ANNIVERSARY
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING TEAMS

CLEVELAND -- Denison’s Aaron Cole and Wooster’s Kayla Heising head a list of stellar student-athletes named to the North Coast Athletic Conference’s 20th Anniversary men’s and women’s swimming teams.

Cole, a 2000 graduate of Denison, was voted to the 20th Annivesary team in three events - the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly. He is a two-time NCAC Male Swimmer of the Year, earning the honor in 1999 and 2000. In 1999, Cole won the 50 and 100 frees as well as the 100 fly. In the 100 fly, he set a conference mark (48.47) that still stands. As a senior in 2000, he successfully defended his titles in the 100 free and 100 fly, and added a championship in the 100 breaststroke. He set NCAC records in the 50 free (20.01), the 100 free (45.51) and the 100 breast (56.21) that still stand. As a freshman in 1997, Cole earned all-conference recognition with a third-place finish in the 100 free.

Heising, last winter’s NCAC Female Swimmer of the Year, leads a list of five current student-athletes named to the women’s 20th anniversary squad. She was voted to the second decade team in the 50 freestyle. A senior, Heising is the defending NCAC champion in the 50 and 100 freestyles. She holds the conference record in both events (23.33 for the 50 and 51.24 for the 100), and has one of the top six times in NCAA Division III in both events this season. She also earned all-conference recognition in 2002 with a second-place finish in the 50 free.

Kenyon, an 18-time NCAC team champion in men’s swimming, had six different individuals voted to the squad in eight different events. Reed Boon (1999-03) and Michael Bonomo (1998-02) were each chosen in two different events. Boon was selected in the 200 free and 200 individual medley and is the conference record holder in both events (1:39.82 in the 200 free, 1:52.52 in the 200 IM). Bonomo was selected in the 500 and 1650 freestyles. He won the mile all four years and was a three-time all-NCAC performer in the 500 free.

Wittenberg’s Julien Lazarus (1995-99) and Allegheny’s John Hreha (2000-03) were the other swimmers or divers selected in two events. Lazarus, the NCAC Male Swimmer of the Year in 1997, won the 100 breaststroke four straight years and the 200 breaststroke three in a row. He still holds the conference record in the 200 breast (2:04.43). Hreha, a four-time NCAC Male Diver of the Year selection, won both the one-meter and the three-meter at the NCAC Championships all four years of his collegiate career. He holds the conference’s scoring record in one-meter diving (590.53).

Kenyon, the only school to ever win an NCAC women’s swimming crown, had seven different individuals selected in eight different events. Beth Galloway (2000-current) was voted in the 100 and 200 backstrokes. She is the current defending conference champion in both events and set the conference mark in the 100 back (56.35) last winter. Other current student-athletes selected are Kenyon’s Agnese Ozolina in the 200 free, Wooster’s Liz Whittam in the 200 individual medley and Allegheny senior Kelley Anderson in three-meter diving. Ozolina is the defending conference champion and conference record holder in the 200 free (1:52.85). Whittam is the conference record holder in the 200 IM (2:06.90) and is a two-time all-NCAC performer in the event. Anderson, selected in three-meter diving, is a three-time defending champion in the event and is a three-time NCAC Female Diver of the Year.

Denison graduate Tamara Carty (1999-03) was selected in two events - the 500 free and the 1650 free. She won both events from 2000-02 and was selected NCAC Female Swimmer of the Year twice. She holds the conference mark in the mile (16:56.53).

The North Coast Athletic Conference will be announcing 20th Anniversary teams in all 22 sports during the 2003-04 academic year. The NCAC was founded in 1983 and began competition in the fall of 1984. The North Coast’s commitment to equity, its broad base of athletic programs and an unwavering insistence on excellence in academics has served as a model for conferences throughout the country.

The NCAC’s 20th Anniversary teams were selected in each sport through balloting by present and former coaches and administrators. Athletes who participated in conference competition between the fall of 1993 and the spring of 2003 were eligible for selection.