CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. — The Wabash College swimming and diving team turned in a winning performance Friday evening at the Class of 1950 Natatorium, defeating the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology 174–124 in the Little Giants' home-opening dual meet.
Wabash collected wins in eight events and finished among the top five in every race.
The Little Giants started fast with a victory in the 200-yard medley relay. The team of Ryan West, Lew Sams, Brody Page, and Quinn Sweeney posted a time of 1 minute, 37.14 seconds to take first place. The "B" relay of Zach Baty, Jace Caldwell, Owen Thomas, and Nate Marshall placed fourth in 1:43.70, while the "C" squad of Alijah Hall, Michael Cruzado, Carter Ramsey, and John Allen took fifth at 1:44.50.
Nicholas Plumb and Mason Gilliam led the distance swimmers with two wins apiece. Plumb captured the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:24.47 and added another victory in the 200 backstroke at 1:58.91. Gilliam swept the 200 and 500 freestyles, winning the 200 in 1:48.24 and the 500 in 4:52.57. Ramsey (third, 1:54.69), Lucas Ferreira (fourth, 1:55.43), and Cooper Kowalski (fifth, 1:56.16) joined Gilliam in the top five of the 200 free, while Ramsey (fourth, 5:11.90) and Mark Berger (fifth, 5:15.79) followed him in the 500.
In the 1,000 free, Wabash placed three in the top five, with William Renie third (10:35.98) and Berger fifth (10:50.05) behind Plumb's victory.
West earned a pair of individual wins, taking the 100 backstroke in 53.29 and the 200 individual medley in 1:59.64. Baty (third, 57.27), Nicholas Sommers (fourth, 57.47), and Thomas (fifth, 57.76) added strong finishes in the 100 back. Sams placed second in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 59.29, just eight-hundredths of a second behind the winner, and Caldwell took third in 1:00.23. Sams later swam exhibition in the 200 breaststroke and turned in the fastest time of the night at 2:11.35.
In the 200 breaststroke scoring, Hall placed fourth (2:24.60), Kowalski fifth (2:25.62), and Aidan Gubbins sixth (2:26.30). Sweeney paced the Little Giants in the 200 butterfly with a runner-up finish (2:03.42), while Tejada (third, 2:10.23) and Hall (fourth, 2:11.68) completed a 2–3–4 sweep for Wabash.
Page and Thomas provided another one-two finish for Wabash in the 100 butterfly. Page touched first in 53.77, followed by Thomas in 56.13. In the sprint events, Marshall won the 50 freestyle in 22.69 seconds, and Sweeney added another victory in the 100 freestyle (49.25). Renie finished second in the 100 free (49.68), while Allen was fifth (51.19).
In the 200 backstroke, Baty (second, 2:05.20), Ferreira (fourth, 2:06.31), and Sommers (fifth, 2:09.15) joined Plumb to give Wabash four of the top five places. In the 200 individual medley, Sams finished third (2:06.11) and Baty fourth (2:06.83) behind West's winning swim.
In diving, Fox Seebach placed third on the one-meter board with 141.00 points and finished second on the three-meter board with 141.25. Liam Fuller added fourth-place finishes in both events (121.60 points in one-meter diving; 125.40 points in three-meter diving).
The meet ended with another relay victory as Sweeney, Plumb, Renie, and West combined to win the 400 freestyle relay in 3:18.41. The "B" relay of Allen, Gilliam, Marshall, and Ferreira finished third (3:22.36).
The Little Giants return to the action next weekend when they travel to Kalamazoo College to compete at the Western Michigan Invitational October 31-November 1.
