Swimmers, divers shatter school records
The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams continued their strong performances at the Wheaton College Invitational. The women broke two more school records on the final day of competition, bringing their two-day total to six, en route to a third-place finish at the Invitational. The women posted 591 points, behind University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (600) and host Wheaton (801.5).
The men placed fourth with 539 points, behind University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (580), UW-Milwaukee (710.5) and Wheaton (760.5).
Freshman Tina Deneweth set a school record in the 100-yard butterfly, recording a time of 57.01. The mark also automatically qualified her for the NCAA Championships. The second women’s record that fell on the day came courtesy of the 200-medley relay team. The foursome of freshman Meredith Nordbrock, junior Allie Boettger, Deneweth and junior Jenny Scott clocked an NCAA “A” cut time of 1:47.28.
Nordbrock and Scott also automatically qualified for NCAAs in an individual event. Nordbrock took first place in the 100 backstroke. Scott earned an NCAA “A” cut in the 200 free with a time of 1:53.59.
Nordbrock set two school records on the first day of the Invitational; she broke the mark in the 200 back (2:08.06) and the 200 IM (2:08.97). She was a part of four school records and seven NCAA qualifying times for the weekend.
Juniors Michael Slavik and Eric Triebe paced the men’s squad. Both swimmers provisionally qualified for the NCAAs in two freestyle events: Slavik in the 50 free (21.13) and 200 free (1:42.07) and Triebe in the 50 free (21.01) and 200 free (1:43.00).
A day earlier, both competitors earned NCAA “B” cuts in the 100 free. The 200-medley relay squad of Slavik, Triebe, freshman Geoff Hart-Cooper and junior Alex Antilla posted a time of 1:34.96 to earn an NCAA “B” cut.
Slavik, Antilla, sophomore David Stein and Triebe also teamed up in the 400-free relay to provisionally qualify with a time of 3:06.73.
On the weekend, the women broke six school records and posted 14 NCAA qualifying times. The men set a pair of school records and tallied 10 NCAA qualifying times.
Men’s basketball team takes third place
The men’s basketball team won the consolation championship at the Bill Merris Tip-Off Classic in Jacksonville, Ill. Despite a school-record 16 3-pointers, the Bears fell in the opening game of the tournament to Benedictine University, 100-95.
The Bears broke the record of 15 3-pointers, which they reached three times. Senior Rob Keller finished the game with a career-high 26 points while junior Mike Grunst had a career-high 19 points.
In the consolation championship, the Bears improved to 4-3 with an 86-70 win over Principia College Dec. 4. WUSTL followed record 3-point performance with 12 more against Principia.
Michael Faherty led five Bears in double figures with 15 points.
Women’s hoops team wins two more games
The No. 4 women’s basketball team won a pair of games at the Colorado College Classic. With the two wins, the Bears improved to 7-0. WUSTL defeated host Colorado College, 79-60, Dec. 3. Alicia Herald paced the Bears with a career-high 20 points and eight rebounds. Senior Kelly Manning finished with 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
WUSTL wasted little time taking control of the next day’s 86-42 win against Pomona-Pitzer Colleges. The Bears tallied the game’s first 11 points, led by Danielle Beehler’s six points during the run, en route to a 48-16 halftime cushion. Beehler finished with 13 points in 19 minutes of action. In all, 12 players scored for WUSTL. Senior Nicole Wylie matched Beehler with a game-high 13 points off the bench.