MANSFIELD, Texas- It was a Christmas present come early for Ouachita Baptist, as the Tigersharks produced five NCAA national A’ cuts and 22 NCAA national B’ cuts in finishing second in the men’s and women’s division in the 2010 Christmas Invitational in Mansfield, Texas on Saturday.
Ouachita finished second to Incarnate Word in both divisions, as the men narrowly trailed, 863-843, while the women placed second with 816 as Incarnate Word totaled 973 points. Both teams defeated Henderson State who finished with 797 points in the men’s division and 692 in the women’s.
Overall, the Tigersharks produced several strong individual performances, highlighted by schools records and NCAA A’ cut times for junior Ksenia Gromova in the 100 butterfly (55.48) and 200 butterfly (2:02.75) and sophomore Tim Ferris in the 200 Breastroke (2:01.33). All three events were victories for Ouachita.
Sophomore Marcus Schlesinger was a part of a pair of NCAA A’ cuts in the 100 Butterfly (48.71) and one of the legs in the 200 Medley Relay team of Shlesinger, senior Razvan Goga, sophomore Carl Thomas and senior Daniel Karkoska (1:30.95).
In the women’s division, the Tigersharks were led by NCAA national B’ cuts from freshman Jennifer Steele in the 1650 Free (17:35.60), 500 Free (5:03.38) and a victory in the 200 Free (1:53.44). Sophomore Megan Young added national B’ cuts in the 500 Free (5:05.55) and 200 Free (1:53.59). In fact, Steele and Young went 1-2 in the 200 Free competition.
Senior Katie Patterson rounded out competition with a victory and national A’ cut time in the 400 IM (4:31).
In the men’s division, the relay squads performed brilliantly for the TIgersharks. Brilliantly enough to win in the 400 Free, 400 Medley and 200 Medley relay events. Along with the national B’ cut time in the 200 Medley, the 400 Medley relay team of Schlesinger, Goga, Karkoska and junior Kristian Krc finished first with a time of 3:21:04. In the 200 medley relay event, Schlesinger, Goga, Karkoska and Thomas returned for a victory at 1:30.92.
In individual performances, the Tigersharks weren’t short on strong showings, as Ferris added to the school-record and NCAA A’ cut time in the 200 Breastroke with national B’ cut times in the 100 Breastroke (55.97) and 100 Butterfly (51.29). Schlesinger also added a pair of national B’ cuts in the 50 Free (20.59) and 100 Back (49.43).
Perhaps the strongest performance of any Ouachita swimmer in the Christmas Invitational was senior Daniel Karkoska. The Bryan, Texas native was a part of all three relay victories, as well as three NCAA national B’ cuts in the 100 Butterfly (49.43), 200 IM (1:51.87) and 100 Free (46.39).
Krc added individual B’ cuts in the 400 IM (4:06.93) and 200 IM (1:53.77), while sophomore Jake McLain produced a pair of B’ cuts in the 100 Free (46.95) and 100 Back (52:00).
Goga continued the effort for NCAA B’ cuts in the 100 Breastroke (56.26) and 200 Breastroke (2:05.63), while junior Matt Pope provided B’ cuts in the same events in 57.29 and 2:06.20, respectively. Sophomore Carl Thomas rounded out the strong performance for the Tigersharks with a 100 Butterfly (50.43) B’ cut time.
Ouachita Baptist will continue to train until the Jan. 15 meet against Delta State in Cleveland, Miss.
