Evan Rhinesmith led the Wabash swimming and diving team with victories in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke races at the 2009 Patrick Woehnker Invitational over the weekend. The Little Giants finished with 27 top-10 finishes over the two days of competition.
The 800-yard freestyle relay team of Alex Beck, Chad Woods, Logan Falley, and Craig Vetor opened the competition with a third-place finish Friday night, posting a time of 7:21.48. The quartet of Chris Kermin, Matt Routh, Logan Rice, and Rhinesmith took fifth place with a time of 7:29.72.
Woods added a 7th in the mile swim, finishing in 17:26.33. Falley was eighth (17:32.01), while Rice added a personal-best time of 17:34.44 to finish 9th.
Rhinesmith scored his first victory Saturday in the 100 breaststroke, winning with a time of 1:00.17. Teammate Paul Buescher took sixth place with a time of 1:04.15. Rhinesmith's time of 2:14.73 in the 200 breasstroke gave him his second victory of the weekend. Buescher added another top-10 finish by posting a time of 2:19.58 to take seventh. Rhinesmith also finished fifth in the 200-yard individual medley (2:02.96). Eric Vaughn was eighth in that event (2:06.23).
"I think we really came together as a team this weekend," head coach Steve Barnes said. "We had some solid swims in the 800 free relay and in the mile swim. Whether we had swimmers come back from injury or illness, or guys who came into the meet at 100 percent, everyone was competitive. This meet really sets us up well for the DePauw Invitational in two weeks. Now we'll get a little rest and prepare for that competition."
Vetor was second in the 200 freestyle, finishing in 1:46.16. Woods was sixth (1:49.58), while Falley finished eighth (1:50.71). Vetor added a third place result in the 100 free with a time of 48.23. Kermin added a tenth-place finish (49.41).
Vaughn placed third in the 100 backstroke (55.08). David Birrer was fifth in the 200 butterfly (1:59.35). Falley, Woods, and Vetor added top-10 finishes in the 500 freestyle. Falley placed fifth (4:57.13), while Woods was seventh (4:59.84). Vetor was a tick of the stopwatch behind in eighth place (5:00.61).
Adam Current finished eighth in the 100 fly (53.78), while Vaughn was 10th (54.10). Rice added a ninth-place finish in the 400-yard individual medley (4:30.86), while Kermin scored a tenth-place finish in the 50 free (22.65).
Freshmen Korrey Short and Jake Schild added more points for the Little Giants on the diving boards. Short took third place in one-meter competition, scoring a total of 221.15 points. Schild took sixth place with 192.95 points. The duo finished third and fourth on the three-meter board. Short was the top finisher for Wabash with 212.90 points. Schild was next with 179.35 points.
The Little Giants closed out the meet with a third-place finish in the 200 free relay (1:28.53).
Wabash finished in fourth place in the final team standings with 450.5 points. The University of Indianapolis won the meet with 606 points. Carthage took second place (599.5), while DePauw (559.5) was third. Wheaton (334.5) and Rose-Hulman (189) completed the team scoring.
Photos - (top left) Wabash head coach Steve Barnes watches the Little Giants compete at the 2009 Patrick Woehnker Invitational Friday night at the Class of 1950 Natatorium. His squad took the early team lead with 153 points on the first day of competition.
(Bottom right) Evan Rhinesmith swims the final leg of the 800 free relay Friday night. He and his three relay partners finished fifth overall. Rhinesmith added two individual victories in Saturday's competition.