BROOKINGS, S.D. - Fighting Leatherneck swimming and diving fell to North Dakota and Summit League member South Dakota State in the tri-meet competition held in Brookings, S.D. on Friday, October 28. Despite fatigue from rigorous training and travel, several individuals were able to turn in top five performances to highlight the action.

"The team has had a tough two weeks of training after the St. Louis and Truman State meets," said head coach Greg Naumann. "They have been working harder in the weight room, and have been exhausted after swim practice in the afternoons. This is the type of training that the team is expecting, and they are just waiting for a couple of days of rest going into our invitational at IUPUI in November. The team has continued to work hard in practice, and it is showing in the pool right now. The win loss column doesn't always matter as long as we can hit bench-mark times and swim smart races. Doug did well on one-meter getting first against SDSU and second against UND. We had strong finishes from Tyler Neaveill, Brandon Wilkinson, Jamie Grau, Jack Killheffer."

On the men's side, senior captain Brandon Wilkinson recorded a second place effort in the 100-yard breaststroke. Freshman Doug Ogilvie earned a second place finish in one-meter diving competition, just missing the top honor by a margin of 4.5 points. Continuing his streak of strong performances in the 200-yard butterfly was freshman Jacob Shain, who recorded a time of 2:03.45 to turn in a fourth place finish. Senior Josh Davis turned in a fifth place performance in the 1000-yard freestyle. The Leathernecks also teamed up to earn two fourth place finishes in 200-yard medley and 200-yard freestyle relays.

In women's action, senior Jamie Grau continued to be a strong contender earning a third place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke and a fifth place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke. She also contributed to the 200-yard medley relay team's fifth place finish. Going the distance in the 1000-yard freestyle was senior Shawn Fitzpatrick posting a time of 11:45.21, good enough for a fifth place finish overall.

Western Illinois swimming and diving jumps back into competition Saturday (October 29) at noon with a dual meet against Summit League member South Dakota in Vermillion, S.D.