Kalamazoo, Mich. -- After topping Millikin in a CCIW dual meet on Friday night, the Thunder swim and dive teams jumped right back in the pool on Saturday afternoon as they competed in the Michigan/Illinois Quad meet hosted by Kalamazoo College. Facing off against the hosting Hornets, Hope, and Lake Forest, the Wheaton men's team finished second with a team score of 515 points while the Thunder women's squad finished fourth via a total of 390.

While Wheaton did not get to celebrate any event winners on Saturday in the women's competition, there were a few standout individual performances. Sophie Pelling followed up her strong showing in Friday's win over Millikin by earning another pair of top-two finishes. First, the junior came in second in her 50 yard freestyle swim, edging out the Kalamazoo challenger just behind her by .04 seconds. Pelling then placed second in the 100 free, as well, touching the wall just .2 seconds after the winning swimmer.

Olivia Wiebe also captured a runner-up finish on Saturday, coming in second in the 1000 yard freestyle. Pelling ended the day on a high note, combining with Scottie McKeaney, Katie Yonan, and Abby Pardridge to take second place in the day-ending 400 yard freestyle relay. 
 

---

Anthony Fitzgerald was the standout swimmer for the Thunder men today, as the junior earned success in both individual and relay competitions. He first teamed up with Connor Davis, AJ Staiti, and Abe Plimpton to capture first place in the meet-opening 400 yard medley relay. Fitzgerald then won two solo events, first topping the field in his 200 yard IM by a comfortable three-second margin before later winning the 200 yard breaststroke race by an impressive nine-second cushion. Fitzgerald was joined by Harrison Smith in earning Wheaton's other solo win on Saturday, as the senior earned bragging rights in the first men's individual event of the day - the 1000 yard freestyle.

In addition to his relay triumph, Staiti secured a pair of top three finishes in solo swims. He came in third place in the 50 yard freestyle, missing out on second by a razor-thin .01 time margin. The junior again placed third in the 100 yard version later on in the program. 


After a busy weekend of competition, both Wheaton teams will return to action next Saturday when the Thunder head to Bourbonnais to participate in Olivet Nazarene's Tri Invitational alongside Aquinas College.