HIRAM, Ohio - February 13, 2025 - Hiram took advantage of its opportunities on Day 2 of the NCAC Championships on Thursday, with multiple swimmers making a splash between the 500 Freestyle, 200 IM, 50 Freestyle and 400 Medley Relay events.

As things currently stand, the Terriers men's team ranks seventh in the conference, while the women's team is in the eighth spot.

The highlight of the meet came during the time trials, when the team of Dayne Sauter, Jon Hybil, Landon Hughes and David Slovenkay broke the 200-yard medley relay record that stood for 15 years; the quartet finished with a time of 1:37.72, with Sauter breaking his own record in the 50-yard freestyle (24.40) during the relay, too. The previous record was held by the team of Colin Kelly, Santiago Morales, Travis Subda and Zach Wegman (1:38.54).

Men's Recap

Owen Pastorius began the day in the 500-yard freestyle, posting a time of 4:45.99 in prelims to rank 14th in the field and qualify for the B-Final. Later in the evening, the Pittsburgh native placed 17th in the field with another strong mark of 4:46.75.

Sauter highlighted the times in the 50-yard freestyle thanks to a 21.56 mark; the senior from Bakersfield, CA qualified for the B-Final by ranking 16th out of 33 student-athletes. Sauter later placed fifth in that B-Final (21.49), nearing a new PR.

Also swimming in the 50-yard freestyle prelims was Slovenkay (22.42) and Ethan O'Malley (23.52), with Slovenkay finishing just .09 seconds behind the cut line for the C-Final.

In the 400-yard medley relay final, the team of Tanner Markley, Joe Krosky, Pastorius and O'Malley posted a time of 3:54.22 to lock in Hiram's seventh-place positioning on the leaderboard.

Women's Recap

In the 200-yard IM, Natalie Brown (2:44.36) and Grace Basham (3:03.11) both qualified for the C-Final with strong marks in the preliminary races. The duo had a solid showing in the night session, too, recording times of 2:44.74 and 3:02.07 respectively in what shaped out to be a big day for the two veterans.

The 50-freestyle provided a number of swimmers a chance to shine with Haven Papineau (27.34), Madison Fleischer (27.44) and Becca Johnston (32.80) all nearing a final appearance. The event marked the first individual conference championship event of Fleischer's collegiate career.

The 400-yard medley relay final capped off the day; the team of Papineau, Brown, Fleischer and Basham finished with a time of 4:49.40.

What's Next

Hiram will continue competition at the NCAC Championships on Friday; scheduled events for the day are the 100 butterfly, 400 IM, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke and 200 freestyle relay.