Neil Anderson
GREENCASTLE, Ind./TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Tiger men's and women's swimming and diving squads made yet another big statement in their rise amongst the regional powers with 1st and 3rd place finishes, respectively, at the DePauw Invtitational. On the men's side, the Tigers upended the same DePauw team that had topped them earlier in the season in a dual meet.
For the meet, Wittenberg's men tallied 749.5 points, 22.5 in front of the host institution. As for the women, they were just edged out for second place by Centre College 585-569.5.
Claiming wins on the weekend for the Red and White were Neil Anderson (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood), who continued a memorable junior campaign with a runaway victory in the 500-yard freestyle with an NCAA B Cut time. Anderson's closest competition in the 500-yard freestyle was his own teammate, sophomore Chris Culkin (Novi, Mich./Northville), who also touched the wall first in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Anderson followed up with a win in the 200-yard freestyle as he missed an NCAA B Cut by just .09. Both of Anderson's times broke meet records. Helping the Tiger cause, junior Taylor Smith (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) took third in the 100-yard backstroke.
Rounding out the highlights for the Tiger men, the 400-yard medley relay quartet of Smith and sophomores Adam Schick (Bloomington, Ind./North), Zach Stewart (Vincennes, Ind./Lincoln) and Matt Higbee (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) captured the top spot.
On the women's side, junior Adeline Brym (Mansfield, Ohio/Lexington) landed a second-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke to go along with wins in the 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard Individual Medley. Freshman Megan Tassone (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline) added a second place in the 200-yard breaststroke. Freshman Keaton Hannon (Peachtree City, Ga./McIntosh) also took a runner-up spot, touching second in the 100 butterfly.
Down the road in Terre Haute, Ind., the diving teams competed in the Rose-Hulman Invitational. Sophomore Megan Shubitowski (Columbus, Ohio/Watterson) claimed the 1-meter crown, breaking a school record in the process, and finished second in the 3-meter event by just .05. Nearly matching her was junior Matt Erenpreiss (Columbus, Ohio/Centennial), who set a school record in the 3-meter diving event with a second-place finish and added a fourth in the 1-meter.
Upcoming on the schedule for Natalie Koukis and her squads is a trip to Denison to take on the nationally-ranked Big Red. The first event starts at 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 16.