WOOSTER, OH - On Day 2 of the Wooster Invitational, Wittenberg's men's and women's swimming and diving teams continued to turn in strong individual performances, highlighted by a first-place finish by freshman Teagan O'Connor (Fort Wayne, IN / Carroll).
As a team, Wittenberg's women remained in fifth place after the second day of competition. The host team, Wooster, stood atop the standings, followed by NCAA Division II programs Ashland and PennWest-Edinboro, and Mount Union. The Tigers are 10 points ahead of Rose-Hulman for fifth in the nine-team competition.
O'Connor was victorious in the 100-yard butterfly in a time of 58.98. That time was .23 slower than her time in the prelims, which is the third-fastest in program history and earned her the top seed in the evening finals.
The gold medal performance came shortly after O'Connor finished fourth in the 400-yard individual medley in a time of 4:47.25, the sixth-fastest time in program history. She rounded out her outstanding day by swimming a strong leg on the 200-yard medley relay to help the Tigers finish fourth in the event. She was joined on the relay by Lilly Cook (Rensselaer, IN / Rensselaer Central), Sophie Paskiet (Toledo, OH / St. Ursula), and Shania Stone (Cincinnati, OH / Princeton).
Paskiet also had a fine day, as she added a second-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:07.63. Stone was right on Paskiet's heels in the event, touching the wall in 1:08.01. Both swimmers improved their seed time by about two seconds from the prelims to the finals.
Cook kept the good vibes going for the Wittenberg women as she picked up a fifth place finish in the 100-yard backstroke in a time of 1:00.91. Kylie Paumi (Lexington, KY / Lafayette) added a seventh in the 1-meter diving, McKenna Clark (Waynesville, OH / Carroll) contributed a 10th in the 200-yard freestyle, and Jade Paumi (Lexington, KY / Lafayette) chipped in with a 13th in the 400 IM.
Wittenberg's men stand eighth in the team standings with 155 points. Rose-Hulman leaped to the top of the heap, a little more than 100 points ahead of Wooster and Ashland.
The top finish for Wittenberg was supplied by the 800 free relay, which touched the wall in 7:43.52 to finish in 11th place. The swimmers representing the Tigers in the event were Mason Steen (Leroy, OH / Riverside), Nathan Rabun (Marion, OH / Wynford), Orry Farrington (Waterville, OH / Anthony Wayne), and Owen Gabel (New Bremen, OH / New Bremen).
Steen added a 16th place finish in the 100 breast in a time of 1:02.05, Gabel took 21st in the 100 back in 56.94, and Ethan Towle (Centerville, OH / Centerville) rounded out the scorers for the Tigers in 22nd in the 100 breast.