Shelby Starkey wins 100 back crown to lead Women's Swimming and Diving on third day of OAC Championships

February 16, 2024

AKRON — Fifth-year senior Shelby Starkey (Bellefontaine) won the 100 back for the second time in her career, leading the Ohio Northern women's swimming and diving team on the third day of the 2024 Ohio Athletic Conference Championships meet on Friday.

| OAC Championships site | ONU Women's OAC Top-16 Placers |

The Basics

Records: Ohio Northern (6-7 overall)
Venue: Ocasek Natatorium - Akron, Ohio
Ohio Northern is in third place out of six teams with 336 points after 13 of the 20 events in the four-day meet.
John Carroll leads the team standings with 595 points, Mount Union is second with 489 points, Baldwin Wallace is fourth with 307 points, Wilmington is fifth with 206 points and Heidelberg is sixth with 43 points.

Meet Highlights

Starkey won the 100 back in 1:00.46. Starkey is now a two-time champion and a 3-time All-OAC honoree in the event. She won the event as a sophomore in 2022 in 1:00.00 and was second last year in :59.93.
Northern began the night by finishing second in the 200 medley relay. Starkey, junior Mara Brown (Fremont/Ross), junior Morgan Fernandez (Huber Heights/Wayne) and junior Annie Richters (Troy/Miami East) combined to earn All-Conference honors in 1:51.
Junior Mara Brown (Fremont/Ross) earned All-Conference accolades in the 100 fly, finishing second in :59.53. This marks her third consecutive All-Conference swim in the event.
Sophomore Meghan Mattison (Easton, Pa.) and junior Morgan Fernandez (Huber Heights/Wayne) also placed in the top eight in the 100 fly. Mattison was fourth in 1:00.95 and Fernandez was seventh in 1:02.00.
Junior Hannah Eversole (Cincinnati/Mt. Notre Dame) was fourth in the 400 I.M. in 4:48.30.
Freshman Ashleigh Nelson (Byron Center, Mich.) was fourth in the 200 free in 2:01.21, with senior Katie Bend (Carmel, Ind.) close behind in eighth place in 2:03.25.
Brown was fifth in the 100 breast in 1:08.90.

Notables

The meet consists of 20 events, including 13 individual races, five relays and two diving events.
The top three individuals and top two relays in each event earn All-Conference honors.
The top 16 finishers in each individual event and the two diving events score team points.
There were seven events contested on Friday.
Ohio Northern has won 7 OAC Championships titles since 2007.
Austin Veltman is now 26-28 in his sixth season as head coach of the Polar Bears.

Up Next

The final day of competition will be Saturday with prelims at 10 am and finals at 5:45 pm.