@DubC_Swimming men hold onto fourth

Posted: Feb 17, 2017

AKRON- The Wilmington College men's swimming team completed the second day of the OAC Swimming Championship with a finals session Friday evening. To be eligible to swim in a finals session, a swimmer must post one of the top sixteen times in the AM prelims session. The top eight times swim in a championship heat, and the bottom eight in a consolation heat. Consolation heat swimmers are not eligible for the top eight places, even if their time is worthy.

Friday's finals session consisted of the following events: 200-yard medley relay, 400-yard individual medley, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard backstroke, the 800-yard freestyle relay. Women's 1-meter and men's 3-meter diving were also contested; however, Wilmington fielded no athletes in those events.

At the conclusion of the session, the Fightin' Quakers are fourth with 249 points, just 8 points ahead of fifth-place.

HOW IT HAPPENED

To open the session, senior David Spraul (Cincinnati,OH/Princeton), freshman Freddie Snowden (Frisco, TX/Lone Star), junior Alex Tillapaugh (Wilmington, OH/Wickenburg), and sophomore Andrew Stewart (Wilmington, OH/Clinton-Massie) joined forces for the 200-yard medley relay. The quartet finished fifth, with a time of 1:36.33.
Tillapaugh also competed individually in the 100-yard butterfly, where he brought home the highest finish for the Fightin' Quakers. He posted a 52.61 to earn seventh. Finishing just behind Tillapaugh was senior teammate Erik Spraul (Cincinnati, OH/Princeton). E. Spraul grabbed ninth with a time of 52.66. Junior David Bellus (Upper Marlboro, MD/Northmont) also competed in the 100-yard butterfly; he finished 16^th with a time of 54.51.
Next to dive in for the Fightin' Quakers was junior Ben Ball (Gallipolis, OH/Gallia Academy). Ball competed in the 200-yard freestyle where he finished 16^th with a time of 2:00.41. Senior teammate Brendan Tirado (Dayton, OH/Oakwood) also competed in the event, finishing fifth with a time of 1:46.07.
The Fightin' Quakers fielded three athletes in the consolation heat of the 100-yard breaststroke. Snowden was the first to the wall in the heat, finishing in 59.28, which earned ninth. Freshman Brody Morris (Leesburg, OH/Washington Senior) was the next Fightin' Quaker to touch the wall. He finished in 1:05.29 and earned 15^th. Freshman Jared Shoemaker (Springfield, OH/Shawnee) was the last of the three to touch the wall. He clocked in with a 1:09.63 for 16^th.
D. Spraul took home the highest-place finish for WC in the 100-yard backstroke. His time of 54.63 earned eighth. Stewart was the top finisher in the consolation heat. His time of 53.94 earned ninth-place. Sophomore Lawrence Daya (North Canton, OH/Glen Oak) was the next Fightin' Quaker to touch the wall. His 57.86 placed him 12^th.
To close the meet, Tirado, Bellus, D. Spraul, and E. Spraul teamed up for an 800-yard freestyle relay. The quartet posted a 7:14.23 and finished fourth.

HEAD COACH TRIP BREEN QUOTES

"We had some great swims today. Tomorrow, day three, everyone will be tired. But day three is about racing, creating a good competitive environment. Everyone needs to give it their best and be engaged. I'm excited to see how the momentum we've created over the last two days will carry us through tomorrow."

WHAT'S NEXT