Wabash began the 2009-2010 swimming and diving season with a fifth place finish Saturday at the North Coast Athletic Conference Relays. The Little Giants posted eight top-10 finishes overall.
"Fifth place is really about where we expected to be," head swimming coach Steve Barnes said. "We did a good job working on a lot of technical aspects, which is what we've been working on as a team for the past month. We did a pretty good job focusing on our turns and our starts. Our speed is getting there."
Divers Korrey Short and Jake Schild earned third place finishes on the one- and three-meter boards. The duo combined for a score of 333.15 in one-meter competition, with Short scoring a 168.60 while Scheild added a 164.55. The pair combined for a 338.60 in the three-meter event, with Short picking up a 183.80 while Schild finished with a 154.80.
The quartet of Nick Rockefeller, Chris Kermin, Craig Vetor, and Alex Beck turned in the best group finish in the swimming events with a fourth in the 500-yard crescendo relay. The foursome posted a final time of 4:17.32.
Eric Vaughn, Robert Fozkos, Adam Current, and David Birrer finished sixth in the 200 butterfly relay with a time of 1:37.22. Evan Rhinesmith (right), Birrer, Vaughn, and Vetor added another sixth place finish for Wabash with a time of 3:45.32 in the 400 individual medley relay. Rhinesmith's opening time broke the school record in the 100 IM with a leadoff time of 55.9, eclipsing the mark of 56.71 set by Joe Turk in 1989.
Current, Rockefeller, Steve Zajac, and Vaughn took seventh in the 200 backstroke relay with a time of 1:41.26. Rhinesmith, Vaughn, Paul Buescher, and Vetor were ninth in the 200 breaststroke relay.
The trio of Vetor, Logan Rice, and Beck were tenth in the 1500 freestyle relay (15:23.72), while teammates Birrer, Logan Falley, and Chad Woods were a fraction behind in 11th place (15:23.76).
Wabash scored a total of 100 points. Denison won the men's competition with 176 points, followed by Kenyon (148), Wooster (106), and Wittenberg (102). Allegheny (88) was sixth, with Oberlin (52), Ohio Wesleyan (42), and Hiram (32) completing the team scoring.
The Little Giants return to action Friday evening with a dual meet in South Bend, Indiana. Wabash will compete against the Kalamazoo College men's team at 7 p.m.