Rock Island, Ill. -- In their first-ever dual meet at Augustana and first swim event of any kind between Wheaton and Augie in Rock Island since 1997, the Wheaton swim teams went 1-1 in Saturday's competition. The Thunder men triumphed over their conference hosts, 112-91, while the Wheaton women fell by a score of 121-94. With today's results, the women's team falls to 1-6 in dual meets on the season, while the men's squad improves to 3-4 and boasts a three-meet winning streak heading into the postseason.
The women's team was led by a recognizable contingent of strong performers on Saturday.
Priscilla Min claimed two solo victories in the meet, as she swam to first-place finishes in both the 200 yard IM and 200 yard breaststroke events. The senior posted a mark of 2:14.97 in the former and a finals time of 2:28.18 in the latter, winning both races by at least a four-second margin. Freshman swimmer
Katie Yonan joined Min as the two Thunder representatives to earn a pair of solo triumphs on the day. First, Yonan claimed the 200 yard freestyle event with a 2:01.13 time mark. She then won the 500 yard equivalent by earning a total time of 5:28.98 and adding nine points to the team's overall score.
Abby Pardridge held off her competition in the 200 yard backstroke to win the race at a 2:14.89 measure.
Alex McKeaney claimed the 100 yard freestyle event, posting a finals time of 56.44. She was also the highest-placed Wheaton finisher in the 50 yard freestyle swim, earning a couple of points with a 26.05 time. Her fellow senior,
Abigail Rutledge, swam to victory in the 200 yard butterfly via a 2:13.69 finishing time.
Swimmers from the Thunder women's team captured first place in more events than their CCIW opponents on Saturday, but unfortunately these standout individual times were not enough to avoid defeat as a team.
200 was the magic number for the Wheaton men's team on Saturday. Ben Griffith was the primary contributor to the squad's success, as the senior earned first-place finishes in both of his solo events. First, he bested the field in the 200 yard freestyle race, checking in with a finals time of 1:47.54. Later in the day's action, he then fended off his competition in the 200 yard butterfly event, posting a time mark of 2:00.92, a remarkable six seconds ahead of his nearest challenger. Fellow senior Dawson Bremner also put in a strong performance in today's meet, winning his 200 yard IM race as the only swimmer with a final time of under two minutes, touching the wall at a 1:59.52 measure. In the first event of the day, Bremner teamed up with Connor Davis, Andrew Rogers, and Michael O'Connor to capture first place in the 200 yard medley relay and post 11 points on the scoreboard for the Thunder. Additionally, Bremner was the highest Wheaton finisher in the 100 yard freestyle event, swimming to a third-place finish with a time of 49.27.
Anthony Fitzgerald continued his dominance in the backstroke category, taking top honors in the 200 yard edition with a timestamp of 1:59.67. He also earned two points by placing fourth in the 50 yard free as the fastest Wheaton swimmer involved. Another senior team member, Gavin Patton, came home with the win in the first solo race of Saturday's meet, the 1000 yard freestyle. He earned a time of 10:48.75 to finish ahead of the chasing pack by a comfortable margin of ten seconds. At the end of the individual races, Fitzgerald and Rogers combined with Jacob Lippiatt and AJ Staiti to earn a runner-up spot in the 200 yard freestyle relay, coming up just .02 seconds shy of matching the winning team's time mark but still earning four points for the Thunder as a result.
After a mostly positive slate of performances and results in Rock Island, the attention of both teams will turn toward the CCIW Championships, scheduled for February 17th-19th in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin.
