Another banner winter sports season came to a conclusion recently as three Wittenberg student-athletes earned All-America designations for their outstanding performances in NCAA Division III competition.

Junior Skip Ivery finished second in the 55-meter high hurdles at the NCAA Division III Men’s Indoor Track and Field Championship meet at DePauw University on March 15. Ivery broke his own school record with a blistering time of 7.51 in the finals of the national meet. He was one of three competitors within .01 seconds of one another in a fantastic photo finish.

Also an all-conference wide receiver on the Wittenberg football team, Ivery turned in the best finish for an individual athlete in NCAA competition in school history in his first appearance at a national track and field championship event. The top eight competitors in each event are designated as All-America. As a team, Wittenberg wound up tied for 23rd in the nation thanks to Ivery’s eight points.

Junior Steve Rader also earned All-America honors. A three-time national meet qualifier, Rader matched his best performance ever with a pair of fourth-place finishes at the NCAA Division III Men’s Swimming and Diving National Championships at Emory University, March 20-22. Also a two-time All-American in 2002, Rader finished fourth in the 200-yard Individual Medley and fourth in the 200-yard butterfly, the latter in a school record time of 1:51.48. In addition, Rader finished 12th (Honorable Mention All-America) in the 100-yard butterfly in a school-record time of 50.57.

Similar to track and field, the top eight in each event are designated All-America. As a team, Wittenberg posted a school-record tying 35 points, all scored by Rader, en route to 21st place

Rounding things out, freshman Rebecca Searcy finished 10th in the 400-yard Individual Medley, 11th in the 1650-yard freestyle and 23rd in the 500-yard freestyle at the NCAA Division III Women’s Swimming and Diving National Championships at Emory University, March 15-17. All three finishes were a result of personal-best times by Searcy, with the first two being good for Honorable Mention All-America honors. As a team, Wittenberg finished 40th nationally with 13 points, all scored by Searcy.