Carthage College Athletics

The Carthage College men’s swimming team (3-3 dual-meet record), coached by Greg Earhart (61-18 dual-meet record, 8 years) won the 2009 CCIW Swimming Championship at the Wheaton College (Ill.) Chrouser Fitness Center in Wheaton, Ill. The Red Men won their third conference championship in four years and second in a row with 1,035 points, a whopping 301 points ahead of second-place Wheaton (Ill.) at 734. The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology was third at 482, followed by Illinois Wesleyan University fourth at 460, Millikin University fifth at 274, Augustana College (Ill.) sixth at 178 and North Central College seventh with 157 points.

Carthage’s Nathan Ripley (Jr., Middleton, Wis.) won both the 100 freestyle (46.00) and the 200 freestyle (Carthage-record 1:42.32), while finishing second in the 50 freestyle (21.07). Derek Schneider (So., Janesville, Wis./Craig) won both the 200 individual medley (1:55.79) and the 400 individual medley (4:08.79), while finishing third in the 200 breaststroke (2:10.99). Stephen Schranck (Sr., Alton, Ill./Marquette Catholic) won both the 100 breaststroke (CCIW-record 56.61) and the 200 breaststroke (Carthage-record 2:01.23). Andy Bax (Sr., Naperville, Ill./Aurora/Waubonsie Valley) won the 50 freestyle (20.98 with a CCIW and Carthage-record 20.84 in the preliminaries) and finished third in the 100 freestyle (47.21).

Doug Schranck (Fr., Alton, Ill./Marquette Catholic) finished second in both the 100 butterfly (50.32) and the 200 individual medley (1:56.03), while taking third place in the 200 butterfly (1:54.90). Alex Van Huis finished second in both the 400 individual medley (4:09.27) and the 1,650 freestyle (16:10.30), while taking third place in the 500 freestyle (4:42.27). Kyle Winiecki finished second in both the 200 backstroke (1:56.76) and the 200 freestyle (1:43.91). Chris Varner (So., Wildwood, Mo./Eureka) finished second in the 100 backstroke (52.75), as did Blake Bendix (So., St. Cloud, Min./Tech) in the 100 freestyle (47.10).

Bryce Davis (Sr., Mequon, Wis./Homestead) took third place in the 50 freestyle (21.36), as did Bryan Pelka (Sr., Elgin, Ill./Elgin Academy) in the 1,650 freestyle (16:11.64) and Bob Pellican (So., Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey) in the 200 backstroke (1:57.02). The Red Men also picked up wins from their 200 freestyle relay team of Davis, Bendix, Ripley and Bax (CCIW and Carthage-record 1:22.74), 800 freestyle relay team of Doug Schranck, Isaac Rothenbaum (So., Oak Park, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest), Adam Van Huis (Fr., Winneconne, Wis.) and Pelka (CCIW-record 7:02.51), their 200 medley relay team of Varner, Stephen Schranck, Doug Schranck and Bax (CCIW and Carthage-record 1:33.27) and their 400 medley relay team of Varner, Stephen Schranck, Davis and Ripley (Carthage-record 3:25.58). The Red Men’s Isaac Rothenbaum was named the meet’s “most outstanding participant.”

Carthage tied for 40th place at the 2009 NCAA Division III Men’s Swimming Championship at the University of Minnesota’s Dorothy L. Sheppard Pool in the University Aquatic Center in Minneapolis, Minn. Stephen Schranck was the Red Men’s lone qualifier, and he finished seventh in the 200 breaststroke (2:01.67) to earn College Swimming Coaches of America All-America honors.