Springfield, OH - The Wittenberg University swimming and diving team returned to the water last Saturday morning, Oct. 31. Participating in the first-ever "virtual meet", the Tigers battled fellow North Coast Athletic Conference foes Oberlin and Hiram College, along with Penn-State Behrend. Wittenberg wouldn't let the absence of fans keep the energy off the pool deck, pushing their teammates with words of encouragement with each race.
The Women: The Tigers started off the day with a fourth-place finish in the 200-medley relay. The team was made up of Lisa Cunningham, Abby Dunasky, Sophia Spriggs, and Meggie Suffoletta; posting a time of 2:11.36. Dunasky picked up two other top performances as she finished first in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 12:20.42. Dunasky posted a second-place finish the 50-yard breaststroke in a time of 38.11. The Tigers picked up a pair of first and third-place finishes in the 200-yard freestyle, Mackenzie Schuld took the top spot with a time of 2:05.37, and Bridget Logan earned a third-place finish with a time of 2:11.70. Spriggs swam her way to a third-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly, posting a time of 1:09.24, along with a fourth-place finish in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 31.19. Logan took home first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 26.59, along with a second-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle stopping the clock in a time of 59.16. Schuld was able to pick up points for the Tigers by taking first-place in the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 5:33.91, and a first-place finish in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:23.61. The team of Logan, Schuld, Spriggs, and Suffoletta took home second-place in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:52.07. The Tigers finished up the night by taking home first in the 1 and 3-meter diving events, both by Emma Hellmann.
The Men: The Tigers started off strong with a first-place finish in the 1000-yard freestyle by Zach Parkman with a time of 10:30.74. Parkman also added a third-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 55.22, a first-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:09.13, and capping off his night with a third-place performance on the 200-yard IM with a final time of 2:09.30. Parkman wasn't the only one getting it done for the Tigers as Atticus Dewey added a first-place finish to his name in the 50-yard backstroke with a time of 27.97, and a fourth-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:05.53.