A youthful Wabash swimming and diving team found some early answers Saturday afternoon at the annual North Coast Athletic Conference Relays. The Little Giants went stroke-for-stroke with the best in the nation, finishing third out of nine teams.
Wabash scored 136 points. Denison University won the event with 178 points, while Kenyon College took second (148 points).
The quartet of Tony Caldwell, Kyle O'Keefe, Kyle Weaver, and Jordon Blackwell started the day with a fourth place finish in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:39.25. Pat Laughlin, Caldwell, Nick Rockefeller, and Adam Petro added a third place finish in the 200 backstroke relay (1:40.10).
Wabash once again found itself in the top four spots in the 200 breaststroke relay behind the efforts of O'Keefe, Jordan Extine, Brent Graham, and Philip Towne. The group finished fourth after touching in 1:56.23.
Two Little Giant teams took fifth and sixth in the crescendo relay. Towne, Blackwell, Elijah Sanders, and Craig Vetor (4:19.34) outtouched teammates Weaver, Robert Fozkos, Matt Routh, and Rockefeller (4:23.86).
Weaver, Fozkos, Routh, and Petro scored once again with a third place finish (1:38.28) in the 200 butterfly relay. In the 1500-yard relay it was the trio of Sanders, Vetor, and Blackwell took third with a time of 15:14.66.
Peter Hewitt, Petro, Graham, and Fozkos placed fifth in the 400 individual medley relay, finishing in 3:51.37. The Little Giants closed the swimming portion of the day with a third place finish in the 200 free relay. The team of Blackwell, Weaver, Rockefeller, and Blaine Cooper-Surma finished in 1:28.64.
Wabash took third on the one-meter diving board with total score of 384.85. The Little Giants were fourth in three-meter competition with 344.35 points. No individual results have been made available.
"We were faster than we've ever been before," Coach Peter Casares said after the meet. "That shows our depth is not only making us more competative, but is helping us train at a higher level."
The Little Giants return to the pool for their first dual meet of the season Friday night against Transylvania University and Illinois Wesleyan. The double-dual meet begins at 7 p.m.at the Class of 1950 Natatorium.