CAMBRIDGE, MASS- 12/3/11- Last season, as a freshman, Owls swimmer Drew Ledwith (Keene, N.H.) became the first men's swimmer to score points at the national event since 1976. The Keene native is going back to the NCAA Division-III Swimming and Diving Championships after hitting the automatic qualification in the 1650-free with a finishing time of 15:37.13.
"That's a really great swim for Drew," said KSC head coach Jack Fabian, "The 1650 is Drew's best event and for him to qualify for the NCAA Championships this early in the season is great."
As a team the Owls finished third overall in a very talent-rich field with 588 points. "For us to finish that high against great teams like Bowdoin, Tufts, MIT, and many others speaks volumes for our program. I am thrilled at how well we did this weekend."
Ledwith also finished in first place in the 400-IM event, clocking in at 4:05.20. He finished the 200-free race in fourth place with a final time of 1:43.31.
The Owls also found success in two relay events, the 200-medley and 800-free. The 200-medley team of freshman Randall Dunton (St. Cloud, Florida), sophomore James Black (Lynn, Mass.), sophomore Jared Hyde (Tolland, Conn.) and junior Austin Harris (Essex Junction, VT) finished fourth with a time of 1:36.30. The combination of Ledwith, Harris, Hyde and Black finished in second place in the 800-free with a combined time of 6:59.38.
Hyde had a good day in his individual events as well, finishing in third in the 100-free (46.50) and fourth in the 100-breast (1:00.21).
The KSC men's swimming and diving team is back in action Saturday December 10th when they host Roger Williams University in the pool at Spaulding Gymnasium.
(Courtesy Kevin Butler)
