Head Coach Peter Casares felt like this could be a special year for his program after watching the team compete Friday night in the annual Red-White meet. Saturday he saw more evidence to support his beliefs when his Little Giant swimmers took sixth place at the Indiana Intercollegiate Meet at Purdue University.
Wabash was the only small college competing against Purdue, the University of Indianapolis, Ball State, IUPUI, Vincennes, and Butler. The Little Giants tallied 112 total points, finishing just behind Vincennes in the final standings but well ahead of Butler. Wabash had only 14 members compete and did not send any divers to the meet due to the fall break and preparations for the upcoming North Coast Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Relays.
The 200 freestyle relay team of Philip Towne, Blaine Cooper-Surma, Jordon Blackwell, and Jordan Extine turned in the best finish of the meet. The quartet took third overall when Extine took over in the final leg and held off the rest of the hard-charging field.
Freshman Craig Vetor started his Wabash career on good note. The Franklin Central product posted a lifetime best in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:49.4 to take 13 place. He added another lifetime best time in the 100 freestyle (49.38) to touch in eighth place.
Adam Petro also made the most of his first effort as a member of the Wabash team. The freshman from Decatur Central took fifth place in the 100 buttterfly, finishing with a strong final lap to touch in 53.64. The only swimmers to finish ahead of Petro were all members of the Purdue team.
The entire team will be ready to compete this weekend at the NCAC Relays. The divers will compete at Denison University in Granville, Ohio while the swimmers will race at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.