ELSAH, ILL. -- Coming off its hardest week of practice of the season, the Principia College Men's Swimming and Diving team on Saturday hosted Franklin College and the Illinois Institute of Technology for a double dual meet.
The team lost to Franklin 74-201 and fell to IIT 72-183. The team is now 3-3 on the season.
The highlight of the meet came when sophomore Connor Walton earned first place in the 1-meter diving event with a score of 279. It was his season best score on the 1-meter board and earned him an NCAA Division III Nationals cut. Joining Walton on the boards was sophomore Jesse Dehnert. His score of 240.20 on the 1-meter board was good for second place.
Freshman Zacher Lewis was the first Principia swimmer in the water, as he tackled the 500 Free for the first time this season. He went 5:36.70 and was within three seconds of two other swimmers.
Freshman Hunter Mehring took first place in the 100 Breast with a fast time of 1:00.61, his season best. He is now fourth on the Principia All Time Top 10 in that event.
Junior co-captain Josh Harmon followed up Mehring's victory with a first place finish of his own in the 50 Free. He went 22.04, his season and unshaved lifetime best in the event. He almost won his next event -- the 100 Free -- as well, but took second place by a narrow margin. He went 48.49, another season and unshaved lifetime.
Mehring took second place in the 200 Back with a time of 2:02.96, earning fifth place on the Principia All Time Top 10 in the process.
Harmon was back in the water for the 100 Fly, taking third place with a season best time of 56.01. Mehring closed out the swimming with a time of 4:36.64 in the 400 IM, good for second place.
On the 3-meter board, Walton (284.05) took first again and Dehnert (263.55) scooped up his second second place finish of the day. Both scores were season bests.
The team is off over Thanksgiving weekend and will travel to Grinnell College in Grinnell, IA, for the Pioneer Classic the following weekend. The Pioneer classic is a two-day meet, starting on Friday, December 6 at 6:00 PM and continuing with two sessions on Saturday, December 7 (10:00 AM, 5:00 PM).
