Wheaton, Ill. -- One week after starting the 2024-25 season away from home, the Thunder swim teams got the chance to compete inside Lederhouse Natatorium for the first time this fall as Wheaton welcomed the UW-Milwaukee Panthers to town for their annual non-conference dual meet. The Division I Panthers captured team wins on both the men's and women's side on Saturday, with a 149-68 count in the former competition and a 157-62 tally for the latter. Tess Boyer and
Isaac Eilmes were Wheaton's two standout event winners on the day as both swimmers set impressive time marks in the pool.
Freshman
Jac Cummings secured a second-place finish in the men's 200 yard freestyle thanks to a time of 1:47.66, before Eilmes made his mark in the 400 yard IM with a runner-up placement of his own. The sophomore's finals time of 4:14.72 from today's meet was the 12th-fastest register in Division III this season at the time it was recorded and now sits 40th in the country at the time of writing. Cummings was also the top Thunder performer in the 100 free, swimming to a fourth-place showing in the nine-man field via a time of 48.53. Eilmes then accounted for the lone event victory for the Wheaton men's team this afternoon in the 500 yard freestyle as a result of his 4:49.49 showing.
Jed Ritchie came in third in the same event, 1.5 seconds behind Eilmes.
Josh Elsen had the best showing for his team in the men's 100 yard breaststroke, touching the wall after 1:01.11 to place fourth in the crowded 12-swimmer field. The Thunder men's swimmers closed out their program with a 200 yard freestyle relay race, and the quartet of
Ben Coley, Cummings,
Sam Yonan, and
Kaden Gannon earned a second-place finish, edging out the Milwaukee group in third by only .03 second.
On the women's side, Boyer topped the eight-swimmer field in the 400 yard IM with a blistering pace of 4:31.59, currently the second-fastest swim in the event in all of Division III this season. Fellow sophomore Kara Grace Hess secured a runner-up placement in the women's 100 yard butterfly thanks to a 1:01.18 mark, completing the event more than a full second before the third-placed Milwaukee challenger.
The Wheaton squads will return to Division III competition next Saturday when they travel to Michigan to renew another annual non-conference dual meet, this time against the Knights of Calvin University. The meet is scheduled for a 1 PM (Eastern time) start next weekend.
