SPRINGFIELD, Ohio—Wittenberg swimming and diving got off to a promising start over the weekend, as the Tiger's weekend featured Friday and Saturday competitions. In year two for head swim coach Will Bernhardt, the Tigers feature promising youth, and a talented group of returners from the 2016-17 squad.
Friday night at Ohio Wesleyan, both the men's and women's programs fell to the Battling Bishops, but not without showing well in multiple events. The women's program came up short against OWU 79-138, and the men 66-139.
In the women's one meter diving event, Kateleigh Lorimer scored nine points for the Tigers in her first collegiate victory, beating out Sharlene Jensen of OWU.
In the women's 100-yard butterfly, Samantha Petruzzi picked up where she left off in 2016-17, as the senior touched the wall first, claiming first place-points with a time of 1:01.57. In the same event for the men, Trey Gregory III claimed his first collegiate victory, as the freshman came in first with a finals time of 54.18.
In the 100-yard backstroke, sophomore Joy Longley finished ahead of the pack, claiming first place with a finals time of 1:05.59.
"I was proud of the way we raced this weekend. We tested our kids by going back to back days on the road and they maintained their energy and gave tremendous efforts on the boards and in the pool. Weekends like these will help prepare our team for the length and duration of the conference championship at the end of season," said Coach Bernhardt.
The following day was a true test for the Tigers, as the team traveled to Wooster to square off against Wooster, Oberlin and Ursuline. The women's program showed well for the Tigers, dropping the Ursuline College Arrows 184-54, as well as disposing of NCAC foe Oberlin, 141.50-136.50. Wittenberg showed more of the same on the men's side, as the men came out ahead over Oberlin 152.00-103.00 and over Ursuline 208.00-0.00.
Sam Bott got the scoring started for the Tigers, as the junior dominated the 1000 yard-free, taking fist place with a finals time of 10:36.06. Following up Bott's standout performance was Petruzzi, who earned first place points with a finals time of 2:13.62 in the women's 200 yard butterfly.
In the 29th event of the day, Marita Banta-Long took home a first-place finish for the Tigers in the 200 yard IM. Banta-Long finished ahead of the pack by an entire two seconds at 2:18.05.
"I was impressed by our freshmen this weekend. They all stepped up big and provided the team a glimpse into their careers here. It was nice to see Kateleigh and Trey pick up there first collegiate wins. We will continue to build upon our momentum in practice as we travel to Translyvania University next weekend," concluded Bernhardt.
Wittenberg now shifts their focus to the Transylvania meet hosted by the University of Kentucky on November 4.