WILMINGTON — The Wilmington College men’s swim team battled it out against Baldwin-Wallace in the first meet of the season Saturday and the Quakers came out on top 107 to 97.
“I thought we performed well for the first meet of the season,” said WC head coach Trip Breen. “I think the first meet always reveals, to me, what we need to work on.”
The team of senior Erik Spraul, sophomore Nick DeWald, junior Alex Tillapaugh and sophomore Andrew Stewart (a Clinton-Massie graduate) took first place in the 200-meter freestyle relay, clocking in at 1:43.30.
“The first years’s first swims are always interesting,” Breen said. “Some of them relax and race really well, some rely too much on emotion and overthink the race. They have to understand how we want them to race- to not focus on their individual performance, but to perform for the team.”
The Quakers swept first through third place in the 100-meter freestyle. First place went to Spraul with a time of 56.43, second to senior Jason Prible for his time of 58.32, and third to DeWald with a time of 59.11.
Immense depth was proven in the 50-meter freestyle, with first, third, and fourth finishes, led by Stewart (24.99), Tillapaugh (25.93), and Prible (26.40).
Spraul also clocked in first in the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 2:16.55. Stewart brought home first in the 100-meter backstroke, finishing with a time of 1:04.45.
Junior Cody Nash had two second-place finishes for the Quakers in the 800-meter freestyle (9:43.24) and the 100-meter breaststroke (1:11.24).
The Quakers take on Ohio Northern University Friday at Ohio Northern. The meet is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.
