Wheaton, Ill. -- The Thunder swimming & diving teams returned to Lederhouse Natatorium on Saturday afternoon for their final dual meet of the season, as Wheaton hosted Augustana College one week after both schools took part in the North Central Invitational. Today also marked Wheaton's Senior Day celebration, and ten graduating student-athletes from the men's and women's programs were honored in a mid-meet ceremony. When the final scores from the competitions were tallied up, both Thunder teams had earned victories over the visiting Vikings, with the men's squad winning 162-119 and the women triumphing by a total of 152.50 to 120.50. With the regular season now complete, Wheaton's focus will turn to the upcoming CCIW Championships. The diving portion of the championships will be held at Carthage College on Wednesday, February 19th, and the swimming events will take place in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin between February 20th-22nd.

The Thunder tasted victory in the first race of the men's schedule this afternoon, the 200 yard medley relay, thanks to a quartet of Jac Cummings, Isaac Chambers, Ben Coley, and Kaden Gannon. The four-man team posted a combined mark of 1:36.14 to pip the second-placed Augie contingent to the wall by .84 second and set Wheaton on its way today.

Isaac Eilmes then captured first place in the first solo event on the docket, the 1000 yard freestyle. The sophomore (pictured right) swam a time of 9:58.89 to win the four-swimmer race as the only participant to finish in under ten minutes. 

Relay winner Coley would grab his first of two individual victories in the next race, the 200 free, thanks to a time of 1:48.29, before Coley's relay partner Cummings took the top spot in the men's 100 yard backstroke by an impressive 2.66-second margin at a pace of 53.10.

Wheaton's next first-place finish on the men's side came in the 200 yard butterfly, as Jed Ritchie continued his strong form in the event. The freshman (pictured
left) registered a mark of 1:54.29 to place first by a dominant 8.85-second margin as all other participants needed at least 2:03 to complete the race.

Coley secured his second solo win and third of the meet overall in the 100 free via a time of 47.62 to top the sizable 12-swimmer field. Ritchie would then join his sophomore teammate on two individual victories for the day with a first-place finish in the 200 yard backstroke courtesy of a 1:58.70 mark, just edging out the second-placed Cummings by .22 second.

Eilmes matched the aforementioned pair on two solo wins on Saturday by taking first in another long-distance freestyle swim, the 500 yard edition. Once again, he was the only one of four competitors to clear a round-number time mark, this time five minutes, with a measure of 4:55.60, winning the event by nearly five seconds.

Isaac Bubar topped the podium in the last individual event of the men's program on Saturday, the 100 fly. The rookie posted a time of 54.24 to clip his nearest Augustana challenger by .81 second.

A Vikings quartet captured first place in the final event of the day, the men's 200 yard freestyle relay, but this was not enough to overturn their team's deficit and failed to prevent the Thunder from earning a ninth-consecutive meet win over their Rock Island rivals.

Augustana did not send any men's diving student-athletes to Saturday's meet, but four Wheaton divers still competed across two events, with Mateo Anderson, Josiah Ferguson, and Zander Guzy jumping off the 1-meter board and Wade Watkins joining Ferguson and Guzy for the 3-meter dive. Anderson registered a final score of 290.15 in the 1-meter event, the best mark in the CCIW this season and currently the 43rd-highest score in Division III. Ferguson tallied a score of 206 points, and Guzy earned a total of 183.75 in his Senior Day performance.

The rookie Ferguson posted a solid score of 219.70 off of the 3-meter board on Saturday to lead the way for Wheaton, while Guzy registered a mark of 163.45 and Watkins compiled a tally of 106.40.

 

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The Wheaton women's squad also began today's meet schedule with a victory in the 200 yard medley relay, as Savannah Jeffery, Louise Adams, Tess Boyer, and Katie Yonan combined to post a winning time of 1:51.36 to narrowly beat out the second-placed Augustana quartet by .39 second.

Yonan enjoyed a standout showing in her final competitive appearance in Lederhouse Natatorium, earning two individual and two relay wins on her Senior Day. The New Jersey native placed first in the women's 200 yard freestyle courtesy of a 1:59.93 time, making her the only one of the six participants to finish in under two minutes.

Yonan's relay teammate Boyer joined her on four total victories on Saturday, with her first solo win coming in the 100 yard backstroke. The sophomore (pictured below) posted a time mark of 59.15 to top her runner-up 
competitor from Augie by an impressive 2.67 seconds and set a new CCIW-best time in the event.

Yonan then doubled up on individual freestyle wins with another first-place finish in the 50 yard free via a time of 24.81 seconds, touching the wall just .05 second ahead of the Augustana challenger in second. 

Boyer grabbed her second solo win of the meet in the 100 free, registering a mark of 53.63 to again triumph by a convincing margin of 1.66 seconds. The final individual victory for the Thunder women's squad on Saturday then came thanks to Kara Grace Hess, who topped the four-swimmer 100 yard butterfly field with a time of 1:01.49 to edge out her fellow Augie sophomore participant by .27 second.

The Wheaton women's team concluded the meet and confirmed their victory on the day with another first-place showing in a relay event, this one being the 200 yard freestyle. Boyer led off and was again joined by Yonan on the anchor leg, but this time the pair were accompanied by Rebecca Darter and Scottie McKeaney, who got to celebrate a relay win on her Senior Day, as well. The quartet posted a combined mark of 1:40.80 to best Augustana's top group by .25 second and end the regular season on a victorious note.

The Vikings sent only one women's diving student-athlete to compete on Saturday, while a pair of Thunder divers participated in the meet. Lara Stamp was the lone Wheaton women's diver to jump off the 1-meter board this weekend, and the freshman tallied a score of 223.85, outscoring her Augie competitor in the event by 40.75 points.

Stamp was joined by Renata Marantz for the 3-meter competition, with the former posting a score of 199.75 and the latter earning an impressive mark of 260.