South Bend, IN — A first-place finish by Wabash in the last event of Friday night's dual swimming and diving meet gave the Little Giants a 149-149 tie with Kalamazoo College at the Rolf's Aquatics Center on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.
Jordon Blackwell, Blaine Cooper-Surma, Eric Vaughn, and Craig Vetor combined to win the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:11.98 to boost Wabash to an even mark with the Hornets in the team score. The Little Giant quartet of Jordan Extine, Philip Towne, Zach Phillips, and Steve Zajac took third place (3:19.11) to add the final points to the Wabash side of the scoreboard.
Blackwell posted two individual victories in the meet, which was hosted by St. Mary's College. The junior won the 100 free with a time of 47.95 shortly after posting the top finish in the 50 free with a mark of 22.15. He was also third in the 200 free (1:47.64).
The distance duo of Elijah Sanders and Chad Woods continued to record top performances. Sanders scored a first place finish in the 1000 free (10:15.09) with Woods finishing second (10:15.98). Woods grabbed the top spot in the 500 free, winning the race with a time of 4:55.55. Sanders added a second place effort in the 400 individual medley (4:23.40), while teammate Peter Hewitt took third (4:25.64).
Adam Petro won the 200 butterfly (1:54.61) and finished third in the 200 back (1:58.78) and the 100 fly (52.37). Evan Rhinesmith was second in the 200 breaststroke (2:17.60) and the 100 breast (1:01.61). Kyle O'Keefe took third in the 200 breast (2:20.06). Adam Current was third behind Petro in the 100 fly (52.99) and was third in the 200 fly (2:02.60).
Cole Hatcher snagged second place finishes on both the one- and three-meter diving boards. The freshman finished with 228.15 points in one-meter competition, and 196.95 in three meters. Thomas Schiltz took third on the one-meter board (187.55), while Tyler Foster was third in three-meter competition (183.30).
The Little Giants will be back in the water at the North Coast Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships set for February 14-16 at Canton, Ohio.