Ephs finish 5th nationally

OXFORD, OH. -- Another strong day in the pool allowed the Williams College men's swimming and diving team to place fifth at the 2008 NCAA Div. III Men's Swimming & Diving Championships taking place on the campus of Miami of Ohio University.

Williams final total of 211 points put them a solid 33 ahead of sixth-place finisher St. Olaf and 50 points behind fourth-place finisher Emory University.

Williams had five more top-eight finishes Saturday --  three coming in the same race. The Ephs had three swimmers -- seniors Chris Millen and Alex Wentworth-Ping and junior Norman Scott -- make it to the finals of the 200 fly.

"The guys did a great job doing what they needed to do in the morning to secure fifth place," Ephs head coach Steve Kuster said. "We had some excellent morning swims and putting three people in the same final at nationals, that's the first time we've done that on the men's side. There was a lot to feel good about at this meet. I think our 11 guys did a great job. All in all a very good showing."

Millen had the best finish, placing third in 1:49.59. Wentworth-Ping was sixth in 1:50.71 and Scott placed eighth in 1:54.50. Millen's time of 1:48.84 in the morning preliminaries set a new school record.

Williams senior Ben Bullitt also finished strong by placing fifth in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:51.20. Junior Tyler Bonewell was eighth in the 200 breaststroke in 2:04:11. Bonewell's preliminary race time of 2:02.27 broke his own school record.

In the 1650 free, first-year Gary Roberson picked up some team points by placing 13th in 16:00.69. The Ephs 400 free relay managed a 16th-place finish. The quartet of Millen, Henry Felker, Roberson and first-year Ben Wampler completed the race in 3:09.22.

In other action, Wampler was 24th in the 100 free with a time of 46.11 seconds, and Felker was 19th in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:05.94.