VALPARAISO — The Wabash College swimming and diving team traveled north on Friday to take on the NCAA Division I program from Valparaiso University. The Little Giants captured five first-place finishes and 16 total top-three efforts but lost to the host Beacons 157-137.
Senior Ethan Johns earned two of the five individual titles for Wabash. Johns won the 200-yard freestyle by finishing in 1:46.08. He scored a second victory in the 100-yard freestyle by touching the wall for the final time in 48.10.
Freshman Mason Gilliam won two distance events for the Little Giants. He finished the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:16.11 to earn his first win of the night. Teammate Xander Straw captured third place in the event by finishing in 10:28.54. Gilliam swam to the top spot in the 500-yard freestyle with a winning time of 4:54.79. Quinn Sweeney added a second-place finish in the 500 with his time of 4:59.69. Sweeney scored another second-place finish by posting a time of 2:00.13 in the 200-yard butterfly.
Ryan West won the final individual event for the Little Giants with a victory in the 200-yard backstroke. He finished the race in 1:55.55. Nicholas Plumb swam to second place by finishing in 1:56.24. West added a pair of second-place finishes as well. He finished the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:02.24. West and Plumb picked up a two-three finish in the 100-yard backstroke. West took second place with his time of 53.12, while Plumb scored a third-place finish at 54.56.
Brody Page scored the final top-three finish for the Little Giants, capturing second place with a time of 52.70 in the 100-yard butterfly.
The Wabash foursome of West, Sweeney, Page, and Johns earned a second-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay with a combined time of 1:36.74. The Little Giants placed second in the 400-yard freestyle relay with the quartet of Johns, Daniel Streeter, Page, and Sweeney combining to finish in 3:13.71