By Tim Glon
In 10 years from 2007-16, the Ohio Northern women's swimming & diving team won seven Ohio Athletic Conference Championships titles and finished runner-up the other three times.
Third-year head coach Austin Veltman hopes to build the program back to those high standards and is looking to a veteran and deep squad in 2021 to begin that process.
The Polar Bears welcome back 13 lettermen and four All-Conference honorees from last year's squad that went 4-5 in dual meets overall, finished third in the OAC Regular Season with a 2-2 mark and was fourth at the OAC Championships meet.
The squad will compete in a COVID-19 pandemic shortened 2021 season, which will begin with a round-robin dual meet schedule against the four other OAC schools from Jan. 30-Feb. 20.
The NCAA Championships will be March 17-20 in Federal Way, Wash., with the OAC Championships following on March 25-27 at the Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
In a normal year, the OAC Championships would precede the NCAA Championships, giving just another quirk to the 2021 season.
"It's been a strange year for sure," Veltman said. "The COVID-19 pandemic has given us the opportunity to get closer as a team and tackle the challenges as a unit. Our student/athletes have done a superb job of coping with the difficulties and are sticking together as a team. Practices are fun. I am very happy with the direction we are going as a program. We return five of our top six scorers from last seasons OAC Championships so we have a solid core to build around."
Senior Marissa Taylor (Granite Falls, N.C./South Caldwell) is a 9-time All-OAC performer and may be the most versatile swimmers on the roster.
She has earned All-OAC honors in the 200 and 400 I.M. and on four relay teams and has just missed a top three finish in the 200 back and the 500 and 1650 free events in her career.
Juniors Megan Lubinski (Loveland/Brighton) and Mya Parsons (Castle Rock, Colo./Arapahoe) and sophomore Abby Schauer (Beavercreek) are also returning All-Conference performers.
Lubinski is a five-time All-OAC honoree and has finished second and third in the 50 free each of her first two seasons at the OAC Championships.
She was also on All-OAC relay teams as a freshman in 2019.
Parsons was OAC runner-up in the 200 fly as a freshman in 2019 and had a strong fifth place finish in the event last season.
Schauer was OAC runner-up in the 200 back and also scored points in the 200 and 400 I.M. races and was on a pair of relay teams as a freshman last winter.
Senior Abby Leatherwood (Loveland/Milford) has chipped in 9.5 career OAC Championships points in the sprint events.
Five more junior letterwinners also return with a combined 111 OAC Championships to their credit as a group.
Lauren Shaw leads that group with 51 Championships points and an Academic All-OAC honor to her credit. She made the OAC finals in the 100 free last year and has also scored points in the 50 free, 100 breast and 100 fly as well as a pair of free relays.
Karli Katterle (Rocky River) was sixth in the 1650 free a year and scored in all three distance free events.
Kaylee Fair (Bowling Green) competes in the free, fly and I.M. races and Sydney Graham (Wooster) is a back and fly specialist.
Schauer leads a list of five sophomores returning for their second year in the program.
Shelby Starkey (Bellefontaine) scored 48 OAC points as a freshman in 2020, finishing fourth and sixth in the 100 and 200 back, respectively. She was also 12th in the 100 fly and was on the 400 and 800 free relay squads.
Maddy Markwood (Anchor Bay, Mich.) was solid in the 200 breast (eighth) and 100 breast (ninth) at last year's championships.
Gabrielle Grant (St. Clair Shores, Mich./Lakeview) and Arin Wade (Newark) also return and are looking contribute in the sprints in 2021.
Six incoming freshmen will also contribute this season as the Polar Bears look to improve their OAC finish this season.
Taylor, Lubinski and Katterle were named as team captains for this season.
"Megan Lubinski and Shelby Starkey in particular were among several swimmers that had great falls and we hope we see several ladies have breakout years," Veltman said. "The strong sophomore and junior core will also return again in 2022 so we are looking forward to the future."
MEN'S TEAM
The Ohio Northern men's swimming & diving team has a long history of success in the pool, finishing in the top three at the Ohio Athletic Conference Championships 19 consecutive seasons.
Third-year head coach Austin Veltman hopes to make it 20 in a row in a 2021 season that was cut in half due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Polar Bears welcome back seven lettermen and three All-Conference honorees from last year's squad that went 5-3 in dual meets overall, finished second in the OAC Regular Season with a 3-1 mark and was third at the OAC Championships meet.
The squad will compete in a shortened 2021 season, which will begin with a round-robin dual meet schedule against the four other OAC schools from Jan. 30-Feb. 20.
The NCAA Championships will be March 17-20 in Federal Way, Wash., with the OAC Championships following on March 25-27 at the Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
In a normal year, the OAC Championships would precede the NCAA Championships, giving just another quirk to the 2021 season.
"It's been a strange year for sure," Veltman said. "The COVID-19 pandemic has given us the opportunity to get closer as a team and tackle the challenges as a unit. Our student/athletes have done a superb job of coping with the difficulties and are sticking together as a team. They bring so much positive energy to practice every day, and I couldn't be prouder of them for how they've handled the adversity that Covid has presented."
Junior Jeremy Adams (Ypsilanti, Mich./Ann Arbor Pioneer) and sophomore Calob Cope (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) were All-Conference swimmers last season and senior Patrick Reed (Charleston, W.Va./Washington) was an All-OAC honoree as a sophomore in 2019.
Adams, who is also an Academic All-OAC award winner, is a 5-time All-Conference swimmer. He is a two-time All-OAC performer in the 100 breast and was All-OAC on three relay teams in 2019.
He reached the NCAA "B" Cut in the 100 breast last year, touching in :55.77 - just .37 off the school record of :55.40.
Cope finished third at last year's OAC Championships in the 400 I.M. to earn All-Conference honors as a freshman a year ago. He was also fourth in the 500 and 1650 free events to miss All-Conference accolades by just one place in those two events.
Reed was second in the 200 breast as a sophomore and was fourth in 2018, but struggled through an injury-plagued season in 2020.
He returns healthy in 2021 and gives ONU a solid I.M./breast combo.
Reed and junior Jackson Stanley (Beavercreek) will serve as team captains this winter.
Stanley just missed All-OAC honors in the fly events a year ago, finishing fourth in the 100 fly and fifth in the 200 fly.
Junior Justin DeLano (Englewood/Northmont) is also looking for All-Conference accolades this season after near misses a year ago in the two backstroke events and the 100 fly.
Junior Michael Lewandowski (Shelby Township, Mich./Eisenhower) returns in the sprints and junior Chris Walton(Greenfield, Ind./Eastern Hancock) has scored 41 career OAC points in the distance and back events.
Eight incoming freshmen will also contribute this season as the Polar Bears look to maintain their string of successful OAC Championships meets.
"We are focusing on getting better each day," Veltman said. "Our guys bring great energy each day and I have had a ton of fun coaching them. We are excited about competing again."
