JACKSONVILLE, IL – The men's swimming team headed to Illinois College for their final regular season meet and came up short on the scoreboard – 34-94. The men put in a strong effort and came away with 3 "bests", not exactly the total they were hoping for but the techniques, pacing, and efforts were there that will lead them to success at their final meet of the year.
The men started strong in the 200 Medley relay where sophomore
Emmett Wainwright, senior captain
Liam Anderson, sophomore
Thomas Rauschenberger and freshman
Stevie Keyes combined for a 1:51.71. Keyes was the standout with a 26.33 season-best 50 free anchor split.
The two other "bests" came from Wainwright and Rauschenberger. Wainwright swam a 5:01.51 400 IM that had a thrilling sprint finish. Rauschenberger swam to a lifetime-best in his 100 Fly with a time of 1:01.46 shaving 3 tenths of a second off his time. Another highlight came from Anderson as he went a 24.07 50 Free to win the event.
While the results were not what were hoped for, most of the men were just starting their taper and are thus looking forward to much faster swimming to come.
The men will wrap up their season at the Liberal Arts Championships Wednesday, Feb 12 – Saturday, Feb 15 in their home pool. They will host Finals on Wednesday night starting at 5p and then swimming prelims at 10a, diving prelims at roughly 1:30p and all Finals at 5:30p each of the next three days.
