One millisecond separated Washington University junior Dan Arteaga and DePauw University’s Brogan Runion in the 100-yard butterfly.
“I tried to keep my head down and pushed as hard as I could. I looked up and saw I won,” Arteaga said. “Getting first was a big deal.” Arteaga’s time of 53.99 gave the Bears an extra five points towards a 166-111 win over DePauw. The men took 11 of 13 events. The men’s victory shattered DePauw’s 24 home meet winning streak.
The women came up ten points short despite winning eight of 15 events against the Tigers. The race was one of the most competitive in the dual meet as the top four swimmers finished within ten milliseconds of each other. “It’s all in the finish,” junior Alex Beyer said. “[Arteaga] just wanted it more.” Sophomores Kartik Anjur and Michael Flanagan finished third and fourth respectively. “It’s good to have a lot of depth,” Beyer said. “That’s what we need.”
Beyer placed first in the 100-breastroke and the 200-IM. Beyer, along with sophomore David Chao, freshman Billy Griffitts and Arteaga also won the 200-medley relay. Chao won the 200-free, placed second in the 100-free and helped win the 200-freestyle relay while Griffitts took first in the 100-backstroke.
Other Bears with first place finishes were Flanagan in the 200-butterfly, senior Julian Beattie in the 200-breastroke, freshman Chris Valach in the 200-backstroke, junior Brian Kushner in the 500-freestyle and the 200-freestyle relay made of seniors Kevin Leckey, Charles Stewart, Anjur and Chao.
“The way we swam was superior,” senior Kelly Kono said. “We just don’t have a diving team, and that’s just 30 points that we couldn’t score.”
Both the men’s and women’s teams do not have any divers.  “We try to focus more on our own swims,” sophomore Karin Underwood said. “There’s nothing you can do about it.” Underwood cruised to a three second victory in the 200-yard backstroke while finishing second in the 200-IM and third in the 100-backstroke.
Kono displayed her freestyle prowess, sweeping through the 1000 and 500-free while tying for first in the 100-freestyle. Kono, junior Jessie Lodewyk, freshman Karina Stridh and freshman Samantha Schulte won the 200 freestyle relay. My mindset was to win points and win events,” Kono said. “We were there to just win.”
Schulte won the 200-freestyle and Stridh took first in both the 50-freestyle and 100-backstroke.
The Red and Green compete at the University of Chicago Invitational this weekend. This is the first multiple day meet this season. The Bears will see how all their relay teams stack up against the competition and compete in long distance events such as the mile.
“It’s a really good chance to practice swimming in a championship style meet,” Kono said.