Washington U. Swimming Teams Fall at SIU, Win at Principia
SIU RESULTS
Carbondale, Ill., January 21, 2012 - The Washington University in St. Louis men’s and women’s swimming teams came home from Saturday’s dual meet with Division I Southern Illinois University without a victory, but the Bears completed the weekend with 15 second-place and 18 third-place finishes.
The Washington U. men fell to the Salukis 144-73, finishing with seven second-place and 10 third-place finishes. The women’s team lost 145-79 behind eight second-place and eight third-place finishes.
Senior Chris Valach led the men’s team with three overall (two individual and one relay) second-place finishes. He put together his best performance in the 200-yard backstroke, where Valach’s time of 1:58.87 was just 2.93 seconds off the pace.
In the 1,000-yard freestyle Valach earned second place with a time of 9:53.24, which was 10.26 seconds behind first. The team of freshman Matt Nutter, Valach, freshman John Walker and freshman Luke Dobben finished 9.2 seconds behind the first-place SIU team in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Freshman Zane Turpin also had two second-place finishes for the Bears. Turpin finished the 200-yard butterfly in 1:57.27 and the 500-yard freestyle in 4:51.47, 8.23 seconds behind first place.
Junior Mark Minowitz was 0.14 seconds off the pace in the 100-yard freestyle as he finished in 49.09 seconds. Sophomore Brian Carpenter wrapped up the individual events for the Wash. U. men with a second-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:11.84).
Freshman Sara Taege led the Washington U. women with two individual second-place swims. Taege’s best swim came in the 200-yard butterfly, where her time of 2:13.37 was 3.04 seconds behind the first-place finisher.
Taege was also second in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:58.95. Taege, sophomore Alison Siegel, freshman Katie Crist and junior Veronica Tse finished the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:47.10, also good for second place.
Sophomore Chi Pham also had two runner-up finishes for the Washington U. women. Pham swam the 100-yard freestyle in 55.05, less than a second behind first place, and the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:31.64.
Other second-place finishes came from sophomore Meghan Lam in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:19.01) and sophomore Paige VanTassell in the 500-yard freestyle (5:24.20).
On Friday night, Washington U. swept Principia College in Elsah, Ill. The Bear men won 130-27, and the women’s team triumphed 139-38.
The swimming and diving teams will now prepare for the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships to be held in Cleveland, Ohio, from Wednesday, Feb. 15 through Saturday, Feb. 18.