Wabash split a pair of swimming and diving dual meets over the weekend. The Little Giants rallied but came up just short in a 126-117 loss to Transylvania University Friday night before defeating Rose-Hulman 124-100 Saturday afternoon in the Class of 1950 Natatorium.
Friday night the Wabash squad trailed early before tying the meet when freshmen Brent Graham (Ft. Wayne, IN/Homestead) won the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:21.28. Teammate Kyle O’Keefe (SO/Indianapolis, IN/Warren Central) was second (2:22.02). But the Little Giants would finish second in the 400-yard free relay to come up short in the final team score.
The Wabash divers continued to shine, sweeping the top-two spots in the three-meter competition while finishing second and third on the one-meter board. Clayton Craig (SO/Morristown, IN/Indiana Academy) won the three-meter competition with a total of 206.40 points. Rob Fenoglio (FR/Highland, IN/Highland) was second with 179.50 points. Craig took second on the one-meter board (189.80) while Fenoglio was third (162.40).
Michael Belanger (SO/Crawfordsville, IN/Crawfordsville) and Jordon Blackwell (FR/Veedersburg, IN/Crawfordsville) each had good efforts for Wabash. Belanger won the 500 free (5:09.42) and the 1000 free (10:30.05). Blackwell took the top spot in the 200 free (1:50.24) and the 100 free (49.08).
"We started slow, but got better and became more passionate as the meet progressed," said head coach Peter Casares. "We were down by 18 points with three events remaining. We tied the score because of stellar performances by our divers and breaststrokers."
Saturday Wabash fell behind after the first event before taking control of the meet with a win by Belanger in the 1000 free (10:25.89). Blackwell followed with a victory in the 200 free with a time of 1:50.71, followed by another win in the 100 free (56.23). Kyle Weaver (JR/Portland, IN/Jay County) touched first in the 50 free, winning the event with a time of 22.05.
Belanger added another victory in the 500 free with a winning time of 5:02.35. O’Keefe took first place in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.29) and Craig added another first on the one-meter board with a score of 194.50.
Wabash returns to the water next Friday night with a 7 p.m. match against Wittenberg University in the Class of 1950 Natatorium.