The Wright State men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams finished their respective seasons Saturday at the Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships in Chicago.
Both teams finished in fifth place which repeated how the women’s team finished last year and dropped the men’s team one position lower than 2012.
Head coach Sion Brinn said while some of his swimmers fell short of their own goals, WSU’s overall performance was something to be proud of.
“I would say we still did pretty good because we did definitely have quite a few best times,” Brinn said. “But I think expectations may have been set a little too high by individuals that maybe weren’t met, so [they] probably weren’t as excited about it. But in reality they were pretty successful.”
On the opening day of competition, junior John Vigar earned second place in the 1000m free event and helped freshman Luke Osgood, senior Adam Carnell and junior Tony Ventosa place third in the 200m free relay. Senior Justyna Hampel finished third in the 1000 free event for the women’s team.
Vigar continued his strong performances in Chicago by winning the 500m free event on Day Two and was followed by senior Pawel Grzebala, who took second place. Hampel added to the Raiders’ effort with a third place finish in the same event on the women’s side.
Day three saw Eric Ahlden place second in the 100m backstroke. Grezbala, Wiehan Boshoff, Matt Dassow and Vigar combined for a runner-up finish in the 800m free relay.
On the final day, Vigar finished second in the 1650m free event, while Ahlden placed third in the 200m back event. Ventosa, Vigar, Carnell and Grzebala combined to take fifth place in the 400m free relay.
The women’s team closed out the conference championships with Hampel finishing third in the 1650m free event. Along with freshmen Nicki Holtkamp, Sammi Miller and sophomore Sarah Weidner, she also placed fifth in the 400m free relay.
Brinn noted WSU resembled a cohesive unit and was most proud of the way his swimmers supported one another.
“I think just coming together and becoming a close team at the conference [championships makes me most happy], Brinn said. “The support for each other was tremendous.”
