TIGER SWIM & DIVE DOMINATES HOME MEET AGAINST RANKED COMPETITION
BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – The Olivet Nazarene University swimming & diving teams hosted their third event of the season at the Perry Center on Saturday, welcoming Bethel (Ind.) and Indiana Wesleyan to Bourbonnais.
The No. 5 ONU women's swim & dive team bested both No. 11 Bethel and No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan in the pool, while the No. 7 ONU men's team defeated No. 11 Bethel in dual competition.
Women's Results
No. 5 Olivet Nazarene: 88
No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan: 68
No.11 Bethel (Ind.): 58
ONU kicked off the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay, with Katelyn Inman, Julieta Vega, Ashley Parry, and Halle Briner clocking in at 1:50.03 to pick up the win.
Vega added two more gold medals after touching the wall first in the 200 IM (2:13.89) and the 100 breaststroke (1:05.97). Megan Schroed was right behind Vega in the 100 breaststroke with a second-place finish (1:06.68). Briner collected the bronze in the 50 freestyle at 25.15, finishing behind second place by a mere one-hundredth of a second.
Allison Pearson, the reigning KCAC and NAIA Swimmer of the Month for October, continued her dominant sophomore season with two more individual wins. She touched the wall first in the meet's shortest race, the 50 freestyle, at 24.86 before winning the gold in the 100 butterfly at 59.54. Pearson was the only swimmer to eclipse the one-minute threshold in the latter event.
Pearson was joined by Parry and Taylor King on the podium in the 100 butterfly, with Parry placing second (1:00.05) and King taking third (1:01.53). Inman collected a silver medal in the 100 backstroke (1:01.91). Carley Logan picked up podium finishes in the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle, going second (2:00.04) and third (5:21.05), respectively.
The Tigers rounded out their big day with a second-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay. King, Schroeder, Mia Points, and Pearson finished at 1:42.70.
Men's Results
No. 7 Olivet Nazarene: 146
No. 11 Bethel (Ind.): 76
The ONU men started and finished their day with 1-2 performances in the relays, taking first and second in the 200 medley relay as well as first and second in the 200 freestyle relay.
The Tigers swept the podium in four events on the day. In the 200 freestyle, Nicholas Klenner went first (1:44.37), Liam Kuiper placed second (1:44.98), and Mason Beall took third (1:47.98). Ethan Holwerda (2:01.27), Peter Adams (2:05.55), and Ryan Harrison (2:06.46) went 1-2-3 in the 200 IM. Timothy Braun took first (48.03), Porter Hoffman second (48.58), and Beall went third in the 100 freestyle (49.63). Lastly, in the 100 backstroke, Klenner (50.54), Jack Fries (53.27), and Chase Aruskevicius (56.84) teamed up to go first, second, and third.
Aruskevicius and David Gann split two-thirds of the podium in the meet's longest race, the 1650 freestyle, going second (17:44.59) and third (18:26.02), respectively. On the flip side, ONU took two-thirds of the podium in the meet's shortest event, the 50 freestyle, with Porter Hoffman (21.91) and Michael Quintana (21.95) going first and second, respectively.
Demarcus Washington blitzed to a second-place finish in the 100 butterfly, touching the wall at 53.07. Aaron Alegre went 5:28.32 to place third in the 500 freestyle. Kuiper and Holwerda then went 1-2 in the 100 breaststroke at 59.00 and 1:02.16, respectively.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Tigers will head to Kentwood, Mich. for the two-day Don Kimble Invite. Day 1 is Friday, Nov. 18, starting at 5 p.m. CST.
--ONU—
*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu
