The Wheaton swim teams had reason to celebrate after claiming their first conference win of the season
Wheaton, Ill. -- On Friday evening, the Wheaton men's and women's swim teams faced off against Millikin in their first head-to-head conference dual meet since 1979. The Thunder emerged victorious inside Lederhouse Natatorium, with the men's team triumphing by a score of 160-41 and the women's squad winning, 117-85. With tonight's successful results, both Wheaton teams improve to 1-1 in conference action this season.
Priscilla Min and
Rachel Clancy led the way for the women's team on Friday, as the veteran and the rookie both claimed first place in two different races. The senior Min bested the field in the 400 yard IM event, posting a finals time of 4:49.43. She then ended her night by going the distance in the 500 yard freestyle, winning comprehensively with a time of 5:24.63. Clancy, one of the freshman standouts for the Thunder so far this season, first topped the podium in the 50 yard freestyle, touching the wall with a 26.24 finishing time. Later in the evening's action, she out-swam her rivals in the 100 yard breaststroke event, edging three Millikin swimmers with a mark of 1:11.40.
Another freshman who has had a promising start to her Wheaton career,
Katie Yonan,won the 200 yard freestyle by securing a finishing time of 2:02.64. A fellow senior of Min's,
Abigail Rutledge topped the 100 yard butterfly standings with a finals time of 1:00.98.
Abby Pardridge did likewise in the backstroke race over the same distance, microscopically beating out her nearest Big Blue competitor by .03 seconds with a total time of 1:01.96.
On the men's side, Anthony Fitzgerald was once again at the center of it all, taking top honors in both the 200 yard freestyle event and the 500 yard equivalent. The sophomore posted respective finishing times of 1:49.04 and 4:59.19 in the aforementioned competitions. Freshman swimmer Mason Hodge claimed victory in the 1000 yard freestyle race, coming in with a time of 10:46.99 - a full twenty seconds ahead of his nearest challenger. He then doubled up by winning the 100 yard butterfly with a total time of 55.02.
Elsewhere, Michael O'Connor proved his speed over the short distance by securing first place in the 50 yard freestyle via a 22.71 time mark. Another member of the sophomore cohort, Connor Davis, earned bragging rights in the 400 yard IM competition, posting a finals time of 4:32.69. Classmate AJ Staiti pipped the previously discussed O'Connor to the finish line in the 100 yard backstroke, outpacing his Thunder teammate by less than two seconds with a time of 55.44. Finally, Kael Gannon got in on the fun by taking the top spot in the 100 yard breaststroke event, securing a finals time of 1:07.22.
The next time the two Thunder teams are scheduled to be in action is on Saturday, January 22nd when they host Olivet Nazarene in a nonconference dual meet.
