Tigers Sweep Transylvania, Then Fall Narrowly At Home To DePauw


Cecilia Wille

LEXINGTON, Ky./SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg Tigers hit the road to complete one dual meet sweep over Transylvania before returning home to lose by incredibly narrow margins on both the men's and women's sides against perennial powerhouse DePauw.

The Tiger men are now 3-1 in dual meet competition in 2009-10, while the women are 2-2. The scores against Transylvania, one of the top teams each year in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, were 135-82 for the men and 120-101 for the women. Against DePauw, the Tiger men came two points short in a 151-149 loss, while the women swam to a 150-144 defeat.

For the women, sophomore Cecilia Wille (Knoxville, Tenn./Farragut) posted a win in the 200-yard freestyle against Transylvania and added wins in the 100 and 200 free against DePauw. Sophomore Keaton Hannon (Peachtree City, Ga./McIntosh) was tops in the 200 Individual Medley against the Pioneers before she picked up wins in the 100 and 200 butterfly events against DePauw. Junior Megan Shubitowski (Columbus, Ohio/Watterson) was perfect in diving competition over the weekend, taking both the 1- and 3-meter events in both meets. Other individual winners against Transylvania included sophomore Rachel Lee (Hickory, N.C./Hickory) in the 500 free and sophomore Megan Tassone (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline) in the 100 breaststroke.

For the men, seven different student-athletes won an individual event against Transylvania, including sophomore Mickey Murphy (Carmel, Ind./Carmel) in the 1000 free, junior Zach Stewart (Vincennes, Ind./Lincoln) in the 200 free, senior Bobby Ritzi (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek) in the 50 free, freshman Michael Garza (Dayton, Ohio/Hampton) in the 200 IM, junior Conor O'Rourke (Mendham, N.J./Canterbury School) in the 100 fly, senior Brandon Bock (Bryan, Ohio/Bryan) in the 100 free and senior Matt Erenpreiss (Columbus, Ohio/Centennial) in the 1- and 3-meter diving events.

Against DePauw, senior Neil Anderson (Lakewood, Ohio/Lakewood) led with a three-win day - touching the wall first in the 200 free, 200 fly and 500 free. Senior Taylor Smith (Mansfield, Ohio/Senior) added a first in the 100 backstroke and Erenpreiss was again untouched in the diving events. Finally, junior Chris Culkin (Novi, Mich./Northville) placed first in the 1000 free.