SHENANDOAH, TX. 3/23/13 – Keene State College's Drew Ledwith will have to wait another year to fulfill his dream of becoming a national champion. For the second year in a row, the junior from Keene, N.H., finished second in the 1,650 race at the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships at the Conroe Natatorium in Shenandoah, Texas on Saturday.
In a repeat of last year's mile race Alan Weik, a junior from Denison (OH) University defended his title, placing first with a time of 15:09.63. Ledwith finished second with a time of 15:24.50. KSC freshman Shahar Resman (Ashdod, Israel), also earned All-American honors with his eighth place (15:40.47) finish in the race.
Weik never relinquished the lead throughout the race. Instead, he kept on building on his lead during the long 66 lap race. "It just wasn't my night," said Ledwith. "In the beginning of the race I felt good, but I died in the end. I gave it everything I had, but I'm a little disappointed."
"Drew was hoping to go a little bit faster, but overall I think he's pretty happy with his meet and the way the team performed," said KSC Coach Jack Fabian. "Getting two All-American in the mile is a great accomplishment for the program."
Ledwith will get one more crack at beating Weik next year. "I'll be ready," Ledwith said.
In the final day of competition, Keene State also picked up points in the 400 free relay with the team of senior Austin Harris (Essex Junction, Vt.), juniors Jared Hyde (Tolland, Conn.) and James Black (Lynn, Mass.) and freshman Greg Youngstrom (West Hartford, Conn.) earning honorable mention All-American with their 13th place finish in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:02.32.
In the morning session, Hyde placed 33rd in the 100 free with a time of 45.73.
Overall, Keene State produced 11 All-Americans at the national meet. In addition to his second place finish in the 1650, Ledwith also placed fourth in the 500 free. Both Ledwith and Resman teamed up with Hyde and freshman Cole Hogg (Manchester, N.H.) for a fourth place finish in the 800 free relay. The foursome of Harris, Hyde, Black, and Youngstrom also placed eighth in the 200 free relay.
Keene State finished the four-day meet tied for 11th place with St. Olaf (Minn.) College, tallying 109 points, exceeding its goal of 100 points. Kenyon recaptured the team title from Dennison 499.5-428.
"It's nice that they've been working together as a team. One of our goals was to get over 100 points and we were able to do that," said Fabian. "It's been a tremendous four days. I'm really proud of them and happy for them. They worked really hard for this."
