ONU SWIM OPENS SEASON WITH DUAL AT ST. AMBROSE

DAVENPORT, Iowa. – The Olivet Nazarene University swimming & diving teams jumped into the pool for their first meet of the year, taking on the St. Ambrose Fighting Bees Saturday afternoon in a dual competition. The Tiger women picked up the 139-65 win men lost 153-62.

The women won eight individual events and had multiple top-three times.

Three Tigers were dual-event winners for the women. Grace Barnhart took down the distance events, winning the 1650-yard freestyle in 18:41.81 and the 500-yard freestyle at 5:22.49. Halle Briner won the 100-yard freestyle in 54.64 seconds and the 200-yard freestyle in 2:00.13. Kayla Perry won the 200-yard individual medley (2:09.68) before taking down the 100-yard butterfly (58.69).

Briner's win in the 100-yard freestyle led a 1-2-3 charge for ONU, with Kayla Deubel finishing second at 57.12 and Genna Fugle placing third at 57.61. Katelyn Inman placed third in the 200-yard freestyle (2:02.02).

Julie Vega touched the wall in 1:06.25 to claim the 100-yard breaststroke. She was also third in the 200-yard individual medley at 2:13.92. Ashley Parry was second in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 59.88.

Abbie Christensen won the 100-yard backstroke in 1:00.94. Paige Howell was third in 1:02.26. Ashley Parry (25.53) and Mia Points (25.66)  went second and third in the 50-yard freestyle, respectively.

The ONU women swept the relays. Howell, Vega, Kayla Parry, and Taylor King opened the meet with a win in the 200-yard medley relay at 1:50.56. Ashley Parry, Inman, Fugle, and Briner teamed up to win the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:45.51.

Mason Beall was the lone winner for the ONU men, picking up two wins in Saturday's dual. He touched the wall in 4:49.69 to claim the 500-yard freestyle and went first in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:46.09.

Three Tiger men earned runner-up finishes. Timothy Braun was just behind Beall in the 200-yard freestyle with a runner-up time of 1:47.01, Porter Hoffman placed second in the 50-yard freestyle at 22.31, and Jack Fries was the runner-up in the 200-yard individual medley at 1:59.07.

Braun and Hoffman also each picked up a third-place finish: Braun in the 100-yard freestyle (48.69) and Hoffman in the 100-yard butterfly (54.76). Peter Adams earned a third-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:02.50.

Beall, Hoffman, Braun, and Fries were runners-up in the 400-yard freestyle in 3:13.71. Ryan Harrison, Adams, Ethan Holwerda, and Gabe Karel placed second in the 200-yard medley relay in 1:41.08.

The Tigers will return to the Perry Center to host their home opener on Saturday, Oct. 14.

--ONU—

*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu