GREENCASTLE, Ind. – Two days of intense competition at the DePauw Invitational came down to one final relay. It couldn't have gone better for the Wittenberg women's swimming and diving team.
The Tigers took first place in the meet-ending 400-yard freestyle relay, finishing in a blistering 3:33.67 to break the school record by more than three seconds, in addition to breaking pool and meet records. By touching out the rival team from DePauw, the quartet of senior Jane Tsivitse (Wyoming, Ohio/Wyoming), junior Sarah Wilson (Centennial, Colo./Arapahoe), freshman Maggie White (Westfield, Ind./Westfield) and freshman Dani Lacy (Louisville, Ky./Louisville Collegiate School) secured a one-point victory for Wittenberg in the meet.
The Tigers finished with 861 points to edge out the host team as DePauw totaled 860. Rhodes was a distant third in the eight-team field with 533 points. On the men's side, seventh-ranked DePauw lapped the eight-team field with 1,161 points, followed by Rose-Hulman with 726 and Wittenberg with 591. No other team managed more than 288 points in the competition.
The meet started on Friday for the women with a pool and meet record in the 200-yard freestyle relay as Lacy, sophomore Allie Fisher (Tinley, Ill./Victor J. Andrew), Tsivitse and senior Ward McNulty (Glencoe, Ill./New Trier) touched the wall in first place in a time of 1:37.83. The day ended in similar fashion as the Tigers' 400-yard medley relay quartet of Wilson, junior Molly Gustafson (West Hartford, Conn./Conard), Tsivitse and Lacy took first place in a time of 3:54.12. That time was also a pool and meet record, and more importantly, it was good for an NCAA B Cut.
In between on Friday, Gustafson earned an individual provisional qualifying standard time in the 100-yard breaststroke, and Tsivitse broke the Wittenberg record in the 200-yard butterfly. Those two were at it the next day as well, teaming up with Wilson and McNulty to set a meet record in the 200-yard medley relay. In addition, Gustafson lowered her top time in the 100-yard breaststroke and Tsivitse added a school, pool and meet record in the 100-yard butterfly with an NCAA B Cut time of 57.44.
Lacy capped her weekend with a phenomenal split in the the aforementioned 400-yard freestyle relay as she touched the wall in 51.83, which would have been good for an NCAA B Cut if it was the lead leg or in an individual race.
The men were led by sophomore A.J. Burt (Wyoming, Ohio/Wyoming), who took first place in the 200-yard Individual Medley and second in the 100-yard breaststroke. Sophomore James Dumstorf (Louisville, Ky./St. Xavier) added a win in the 200-yard breaststroke, while freshman Stephen Stuthers (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) placed third in the 400-yard Individual Medley after winning the preliminary race.
At the Rose-Hulman Diving Invitational, sophomore Eric Roberts (Willits, Calif./Willits) took third place in both the one-meter and three-meter events for the men, while the women were paced by senior Katie Reed (Cincinnati, Ohio/Northwest), who placed seventh off the three-meter board.