WHEATON, IL. – The Olivet Nazarene University men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams took on multiple NCAA opponents at the Wheaton Invitational this weekend in the Lederhouse Natatorium.
Both squads garnered fourth place finishes in their respective meets, with the women racking up 457 points to take fourth out of eight teams while the men finished with 402 points to earn fourth in the eight-team meet.
A pair of Tigers were individual event winners on the women’s side. Julie Vega went first in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 58.90 and Grace Barnhart was the champion in the 500-yard freestyle at 5:13.38. Vega also earned runner-up in the 100-yard freestyle (53.55) and Barnhart placed seventh in the 100-yard backstroke (1:02.18).
The 100-yard breaststroke was the top event for ONU, with three Tigers making the A finals. Halle Briner led the way, finishing runner-up with a time of 1:08.65, Kayla Perry touched the wall in 1:09.39 to place fourth, and Taylor King placed sixth at 1:09.97. Additionally, Briner took fifth in the 100-yard backstroke (1:01.95) and King went fourth in the 400-yard IM (4:52.56).
Ashley Parry earned a pair of third-place finishes at the Wheaton Invites, taking third in both the 200-yard IM (2:16.15) and the 100-yard butterfly (59.25). Kayla Debel touched the wall in 5:02.42 to place sixth in the 400-yard IM.
Miriam Griffin, Emma Beste, Kaylee Evers, and Lily Bruner all earned points for ONU in the 1-meter diving competition.
The ONU women excelled in the relays, placing inside the top-4 in all five events. Mia Points, King, Deubel, and Barnhart earned runner-up in the 800-yard freestyle relay (8:22.15). ONU took third in the three of the relays: Vega, Points, Parry, and Briner in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:39.55), Briner, King, Parry, and Vega in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:42.68), and Maylee Lingle, Vega, Parry, and Briner in the 400-yard medley relay (4:04.62). The quartet of Briner, Vega, King, and Parry teamed up to place fourth in the 200-yard medley relay in 1:51.76.
Timothy Bruan had a stellar weekend in the pool for the ONU men, making the A finals in three events and winning an individual title, as well. The junior out of Sycamore, Ill., touched the wall first in the 100-yard freestyle at 45.85 and earned a fifth-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle (1:44.54) before tying for third place in the 50-yard freestyle, clocking in at the exact same time as his teammate Jack Fries at 21.34.
In addition to the third-place finish, Fries also took sixth in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 58.63. Mason Beall and Ethan Holwerda both made the A finals in the 200-yard IM, with the former taking fourth place (1:57.50) and the latter finishing sixth (1:58.24).
Aleks Parsetich and Ollie Shead both earned fourth-place finishes at the Wheaton Invite. Parsetich placed fourth overall in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:00.67 and Ollie Shead snapped off a 1:44.43 in the 200-yard freestyle to earn the fourth-place finish. Caleb Englert also earned points for ONU in the 1-meter diving competition.
Braun, Fries, Parsetich, and Beall teamed up to win the men’s 800-yard freestyle relay, touching the wall first at 7:12.50. Two ONU relays took third place: Hoffman, Fries, Shead, and Braun in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:24.28) and Hoffman, Fries, Beall, and Braun in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:05.92). The quartet of Fries, Holwerda, Shead, and Hoffman placed fourth in the 400-yard medley relay (3:30.02) and Shead, Fries, Hoffman, and Braun went fifth in the 200-yard medley relay (1:35.42).
The Tigers will take a break to celebrate the holidays and will be back in the pool on Saturday, Jan. 6 for a dual at DePauw in Greencastle, Indiana. The meet is set to begin at 12 p.m. CST.
For more information about the athletics program, contact Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu.
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— Republished 12/05/2023 —
