Men’s swimming tops Wabash; women second at WU Invitational

After their yearly winter-break trip to Florida, the Bears took part in a pair of meets over break. On Wednesday, Jan. 11, the men’s team headed to Crawfordsville, Ill., and handled Wabash College by a score of 182-94. The Bears were victorious in 12 of the meet’s 14 swimming events.

Freshman Zane Turpin’s three individual victories (in the 500- and 1000-yard freestyle and the 200-yard butterfly) led the way for the Bears, with sophomore Brian Carpenter (victories in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke) and junior Brendan Morin (50-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly) chipping in two apiece as well.

Only two days later, the men’s and women’s teams took part in their final home meet of the year, the Washington University Invitational. The women’s team finished as the runner-up out of seven teams, with the men’s team coming in third place in a field of eight schools.

Despite not pulling any first-place finishes, the men’s team was competitive in several events. In distance events, freshman Luke Dobben and senior Chris Valach took second and third in the 500-yard freestyle, and Dobben also finished second in the 1650-yard freestyle. Carpenter claimed second place in the 100-yard breaststroke, Turpin was runner-up in the 200-yard butterfly and 400-yard individual medley, and senior Billy Griffitts took second in the 100-yard backstroke.

The women’s team was paced by four winners: freshman Sara Taege in the 500 freestyle, sophomore Jennifer Tartavull in the 100 freestyle, sophomore Grace Murray in the 1650 freestyle, and sophomore Allison Siegel in the 50 freestyle. The women’s 200-, 400- and 800-yard freestyle relays all took second place, and the 200-yard medley relay of sophomore Chi Pham, senior Catherine Rafferty-Millett, Murray and Tartavull took third place.

Wash. U. will travel to Elsah, Ill., on Friday to face Principia College at 6 p.m.

Track teams win seven events at Titan Opener

The men’s and women’s indoor track teams had their first meet of the new year on Saturday at the Titan Opener hosted at Illinois Wesleyan University. While the meet was not scored, both teams put forth a number of quality performances.

The women’s team was highlighted by a school-record performance by senior Elizabeth Phillips—her 1:35.78 in the 600-meter—and a first-place finish in the pole vault (at 3.51 meters) from University Athletic Association Athlete of the Week sophomore Anna Etherington. Freshman Lucy Cheadle and sophomore Katy Barron went one-two in the one-mile run, and senior Erica Jackey took first in the 3000-meter run.

On the men’s side, senior Tyler Jackson’s time of 7.66 in the 55-meter hurdles not only won him the event but also helped him gain UAA Athlete of the Week honors. Sophomore Arthur Townsend took the 400-meter dash in 50.83 seconds, and the Bears took second and third in the 4×400 meter relay. Senior Justin Pieper tied for first in the high jump at 2.00 meters.

The Bears will be racing again in Bloomington this Saturday at the Illinois Wesleyan Triangular Meet, which begins at 11 a.m.