Wheaton, Ill. -- The Wheaton swimming and diving teams took to the pool inside Lederhouse Natatorium for the second time in as many days, as the Thunder hosted Franklin College in a nonconference meeting. Saturday's event marked the third consecutive home dual meet for Wheaton to begin the 2022-23 season before they get their first taste of travel next weekend. The visiting Grizzlies topped their hosts on the women's side by a score of 163-127, but the men's squads canceled each other out today with an exact tie of 147 points apiece.
The Wheaton women's team began the afternoon's action by capturing a 400 yard medley relay win thanks to a grouping of
Abby Pardridge,
Elli Bennett,
Olivia Wiebe, and
Scottie McKeaney, who convincingly beat out the second-placed team by a 6.44 second margin. McKeaney then narrowly missed out on top spot in her 200 yard freestyle event, coming in just .15 seconds behind the Franklin winner.
Lily Foung and
Emma Murphree were the highest-placed Wheaton swimmers in their respective races of 100 yard backstroke and 100 breaststroke.
The hosts controlled the 50 yard freestyle swim, as
Sophie Pelling and Pardridge went 1-2 with 25-second finishing time marks. Pelling later captured another event win in the 100 yard free with a time of 55.71, touching the wall ahead of McKeaney who earned another runner-up placement. Bennett took top honors in the 200 yard breaststroke race, completing the event a full 4.5 seconds faster than the nearest Grizzlies competitor.
Gloria Coleman was edged out of a first-place finish in her 100 yard butterfly swim by a margin of .26 seconds, before Pardridge earned her second runner-up finish in the 200 yard IM. Despite the final team score, the Thunder ended the weekend on a high note by winning their second relay event of the meet, as McKeaney, Pelling, Wiebe, and Pardridge combined to capture first in the 200 yard freestyle.
Just as they did in yesterday's contest against UW-Milwaukee, the Thunder captured a relay win on the men's side to begin the meet. Connor Davis, Anthony Fitzgerald, AJ Staiti, and Mason Hodge combined to take first place in the 400 yard medley event, edging out their nearest Franklin challengers by .19 seconds. Harrison Smith and Michael O'Connor then continued Wheaton's hot start in the first individual race of the afternoon by taking first and second place in the 1000 yard freestyle swim, respectively. Davis and Hodge swam to second-place finishes in the 100 yard backstroke and 100 freestyle races after their relay win.
Fitzgerald secured his position as the standout performer for Wheaton this weekend, as the junior triumphed in the 100 yard breaststroke, 200 breast, and 200 yard IM races, winning all three events by comfortable multi-second margins. Abe Plimpton and AJ Staiti also had strong showings on Saturday, as the former captured top spot in the 500 yard freestyle and second place in his 200 yard race, while the latter won the 50 yard free and earned runner-up status in the 100 yard butterfly event. Plimpton and Staiti would eventually team up with Smith and Andrew Rogers to secure first place in the final event of the afternoon, the 200 yard freestyle relay, and this was enough to earn Wheaton a tie with Franklin in the team point totals.
After a busy weekend at home, both Wheaton squads will travel to Grand Rapids to face Calvin University in a dual meet next Saturday.
