1. Wittenberg men's basketball captures NCAC regular season title and NCAA Division III tournament berth
2. Women's basketball posts 12th-straight winning season
3. Men's and women's swim teams reach new heights during season
4. Alumnus daughter team up for rare auto racing feat

Even the weather in snowy Buffalo, N.Y. couldn’t cool off the Wittenberg men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams.

The Tigers capped one of the best seasons in school history by scoring 36 points in the women’s NCAA Division III meet March 8-10 and 34 points in the men’s NCAA Division III meet March 15-17.

With more swimmers qualified for the national meet than ever before, the women’s team was led by junior Rachel Juergens, who earned All-America honors and set three school records in leading the team to a 21st-place finish.

Juergens broke school records throughout the season and qualified for her first national championship meet in multiple events. Her best finish at the NCAA meet was a fifth-place in the 1650-yard freestyle.

Her school-record time of 17:13.26 was good for All-American honors, her first as a collegian, and she set an additional school record during the race in the first 1000 meters (10:21.65).

Juergens added an honorable mention All-America 10th-place finish in the 500 free, breaking the school record by four seconds (5:01.36).

The men’s team, also carrying a school-best four members to the NCAA meet, followed a week later.

Senior Aaron Edsall concluded his career by becoming just the second swimmer in school history to earn All-America honors for four consecutive years, joining Julien Lazarus (1995-99) in accomplishing the feat.

Edsall finished eighth in the 100 backstroke in 51.36, which was less than a second off his school record time. It was his second straight eighth place finish in the event at the NCAA meet.

Edsall also claimed a pair of honorable mention All-America awards as part of two record-setting relays.

The 400 medley relay foursome of freshman Steve Rader, junior Bob Rafferty, junior Jeremy Lazarus and Edsall finished 10th at the NCAA meet in a school-record time of 3:27.28.

In the 200 medley relay, the same quartet posted a school-record time of 1:35.39, good for 13th place and honorable mention All-America honors.

In addition, Jeremy Lazarus missed the finals in the 100 breaststroke by the slimmest of margins, while the 400 free relay was also a top alternate after just missing the 16-team cut.

For the women, junior Melissa Beck also earned honorable mention All-America. She finished 13th in the 100 butterfly with a time of 59.22. In her other individual event, Beck finished the 50 free in a school-best 24.94.

Two women’s relays swam well enough to qualify for honorable mention All-America status. The 200 medley relay finished 13th and the 400 medley relay wound up 15th. Senior Melanie Edsall and junior Paula Hauser, who also swam well in individual events, joined Juergens and Beck on the relays.

The team’s NCAA performances came on the heels of a fine finish at the NCAC Championships a month earlier.

The women’s team, which finished 7-4 in dual meets, scored the most points in school history to finish fourth behind 17-time NCAC champion Kenyon, eventual NCAA champion Denison and Wooster, which finished 10th nationally.

The men’s team, which was 7-4 in dual meets, also scored more points than ever before finishing fourth behind eventual national champ Kenyon, NCAA fifth-place Denison, and Wabash.

“This was our most successful season since I came here,” said Coach Rueppel, who earned 2001 NCAC Coach of the Year honors. “It’s a very special group of people who set out to achieve some lofty goals this season. And they exceeded them in the end, which makes me very proud.”