GRANVILLE, Ohio – The Wittenberg swimming & diving teams hit the road to face off with Denison University on Friday, bringing home some exciting finishes in the process.
The men's team fell to the defending national champions by a score of 170-116, while the women dropped a 157-115 decision to last year's national third place Big Red.
The highlight of the night came during the 50-yard breaststroke, as sophomore A.J. Burt (Wyoming, Ohio/Wyoming) swam to a second-place finish on a time of 27.63, breaking the Trumbull Aquatic Center pool record of 27.73 set earlier this season by Denison's Ben Snader, who broke his own record by finishing first in the race.
Burt went on to win the 100 breastroke on a time of 1:00.50, and took third place in the 500 freestyle while helping the 200 medley relay team to a third-place finish along with senior Andrew Koukis (Delaware, Ohio/Hayes), sophomore James Dumstorf (Louisville, Ky/St. Xavier) and sophopmore Jared Crum (Galveston, Ind./Lewis Cass).
Also scoring third-place honors were Crum in the 50 freestyle, and the 400 free relay team of Crum, senior J.B. Easley (Cincinnati, Ohio/Seven Hills), sophomore Cameron Mackintosh (Lusaka, Zambia/American International) and senior Brendan Eggers (Rye, N.Y./Rye).
The distance swimmers for both the men and women had good nights, as sophomore Ed Young (Shaker Heights, Ohio/University School) finished second in the 1,650-yard freestyle on a time of 18:55.95 and third in the 500 freestyle for the men, while senior Claire Shannon (Cincinnati, Ohio/Turpin) brought home third-place finishes in both events for the women.
Junior Molly Gustafson (West Hartford, Conn./Conard) headlined the women's final results with a second-place finish in the 50 breaststroke on a time of 31.27 and a first-place result in the 100-yard version on a time of 1:08.58.
Turning in third-place finishes for the women were senior Jane Tsivitse (Wyoming, Ohio/Wyoming) in the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly, senior Ward McNulty (Glencoe, Ill./New Trier) in the 50 freestyle, and the 400 free relay team of Shannon, McNulty, freshman Lauren Bass (Cincinnati, Ohio/Oak Hills) and freshman Dani Lacy (Louisville, Ky./Louisville Collegiate School).
The Tigers rest up overnight before hosting the Hiram Terriers in the HPER Center Natatorium in Springfield on Saturday at 1 p.m. Admission to the meet is free, and the event will also be streamed live on the Tiger Sports Network on WittenbergTigers.com.