The College of Wooster men's and women's swimming and diving teams
both came up on the short end of respective 172-122 and 159-136
decisions against Grove City College Saturday afternoon during
their final dual meet of the season, held in western
Pennsylvania.
The women's meet saw Grove City spoil Wooster's shot at a perfect record, as the Fighting Scots fell for the first time in 11 tries (10-1). It would have been their first unblemished dual-meet mark since 2004-05 (7-0).
The host Wolverines set the tone by winning the opening 200 medley relay by just 0.16 seconds, as Wooster's team of Samira El-Adawy, Allie Kibler-Campbell, Kate Hunt, and Clare Walsh (1:52.42) was outreached at the wall. Kibler-Campbell would bounce back later with an individual victory in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.07) and joining her with first-place finishes were Caroline Hanson in the 1000 freestyle (10:57.01) as well as sisters Melissa Haug and Priscilla Haug in the 200 butterfly (2:12.26) and 500 freestyle (5:20.26), respectively.
In men's action, Wooster's Eric Babbitt led the way as a double winner in the 500 (4:52.55) and 1000 (10:09.69), but the team slipped to 6-4 on the season. Babbitt also was a close second in the 200 fly (1:59.41), just 0.40 seconds behind the winner, while teammate Michael Saltzman paced the field in the 50 free (21.72) as did Logan LaBerge in his specialty, the 200 backstroke (1:58.28).
The Scots now have a little less than two week to make final preparations for the 26th annual North Coast Athletic Conference Championships, which will be held at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio, Feb. 11-13.