The Little Giants did not go without a fight, leading the meet through the first nine events and taking first place in five of the 13 events in the meet.
Wabash opened the meet with a victory in the 400-yard medley relay. R.J. Morgan (Indianapolis, IN/North Central), Craig Haupert (Cedar Lake, IN/Lowell), Brandon Peacock (Crawfordsville, IN/Crawfordsville), and Ben Long (Zionsville) paced the Little Giants to to early lead with a winning time of 3:35.46, their best time of the year.
Sean Gallagher (Lawrence, KS/Freestate) finished second and Gary Mineart (Noblesville, IN/Noblesville) took third in the 1000 freestyle, followed by a first place finish by Nick Collins (Michigantown, IN/Clinton Central) (photo) in the 200-yard freestyle (1:49.19) to give Wabash a 31-24 lead. Wabash sophomore Karl Grimmer (Griffith, IN/Griffith) added a lifetime-best time of 1:50.41 to finish fourth, only two-tenths of a second out of second place.
Morgan added two individual first-place finishes for Wabash. Morgan touched first in 22.27 seconds in the 50 freestyle, and won the 200 backstroke with a season-best time of 1:56.81.
Senior Paul Meyer (Indianapolis, IN/Broad Ripple) added a first place finish in the 200 butterfly for the Little Giants with a winning time of 2:02.69, finishing just ahead of Collins.
Haupert added to the season-best performances of the year for the Little Giants. The freshman finished second in the 200 breaststroke with a lifetime-best time of 2:15.09, and took third in the 200 individual medley with a lifetime-best time of 2:02.12.
The Little Giant divers took second, third, and fourth in both the one- and three-meter events. Aaron Childress (Hanover, IN/Southwestern) was second on the one-meter board (202.75) for the Little Giants. Nick Roersma (Grand Rapids, MI/Northview) took second on the three-meter board (236.55).
The Little Giants will attempt to start a new winning streak on January 27 as Kalamazoo College, one of the top NCAA Division III teams in the nation, comes to Wabash for a 2 p.m. meet. The meet will be part of the Allen Athletics and Recreation Center dedication.