After 4 days of competition at the NAIA National Meet, the Illinois Tech Swimmers and Divers wrapped up another season. With only 4 women at the meet, the Lady Scarlet Hawks fought their way to a 9th place finish. All four women scored as individuals, led by Teresa Arribas with 2 top 8 finishes. The foursome of Sarah Stone, Samantha Staley, Nicolle Mallinger and Arribas put together 3 top 8 relays and 9 individual finalists for a total of 151 points. The menís team was led by Branden Toro, who won the 1M diving and took 2nd in the 3M diving. Day 4 proved to be the strongest day for the menís team, however as Joe Muchna, Jay Park and Carlos Ostolaza all placed top 8 ñ Muchna in two different events (1650 Free and 200 Fly). The menís team fought its way to 236 points, good enough for an 8th place finish. Andrew Mehr, Kyle Pinsonneault, Brian Brady and Mark Callan all joined Muchna, Park and Ostolaza in producing 3 top 8 relay performances and 13 individual finalist performances. The team will lose Sarah Stone, Samantha Staley and Carlos Ostolaza to graduation this year and they will be tough to replace. Stone and Staley have been a tremendous part of this program for the past four years. Their leadership, dedication to the team and outstanding talent will be sorely missed. Ostolaza was only with the team for a short time, but his impact on our national program this year cannot be overlooked. His work ethic and drive to improve helped set the tone for this team in workouts and at meets. Replacing all three will not be easy. Fortunately, the remaining 9 athletes will be back for next year. The team will add an incoming class to this group and look towards the national meet in 2009. Full meet results from the 2008 Championships can be found at: http://naia.cstv.com/sports/w-swim/spec-rel/030108aab.html