Wabash faced some of its toughest competition of the swimming and diving season over the weekend, taking on NCAA Division I Xavier University on Friday and Division II’s University of Indianapolis on Saturday. While the Little Giants came away with two losses in the final team scores, several strong efforts were turned in by the Wabash tankers.
On Friday night the Little Giants lost 109-94 at home to Xavier. Sophomore Matt Perkins (Indianapolis, IN/Brownsburg) picked up first place finishes in the 100 fly, touching just .5 short of a lifetime best with a time of 53.60. He was also part of two winning relays for Wabash against Xavier. Perkins joined junior Colin Fahey (Indianapolis, IN/Bishop Chatard), freshman Kyle Weaver (Portland, IN/Jay County), and senior Stephen Birrer (Indianapolis, IN/Brownsburg) on the winning 200-yard medley relay team. The four touched out in 1:36.07. Perkins and Birrer added freshman Michael Hewitt (Greenwood, IN/Center Grove) and junior Brad Williams (Columbus, IN/Columbus North) to take the top spot in the 800-yard freestyle relay. The quartet set a new Class of 1950 Natatorium record, finishing in 7:40.05.
Wabash returned to the pool on Saturday, losing 152-128 to the University of Indianapolis. Junior Ben Hewitt (Greenwood, IN/Center Grove) grabbed the top spots in both the 200-yard breaststroke (2:12.84) and 100-yard breaststroke (1:00.91). The 200-yard medley relay team of Perkins, Fahey, Weaver, and Birrer touched first in 1:38.37 to give Wabash an early lead in the dual meet. Junior diver Howard Bailey (Moss Point, MS/Moss Point) was first on the one-meter diving board for Wabash.
For results versus Xavier, click here