MACOMB, Ill. - At Brophy Pool on Saturday (Dec. 15), Fighting Leatherneck swimming and diving dropped their dual meet against Illinois-Chicago by scores of 207-93 (men) and 228-67 (women). Despite the loss, Western was able to record 29 season-best times.

"UIC is definitely a tough opponent, and they should how much depth they have throughout the meet. Going against an opponent with that kind of strength does help us as we move into the back half of our meet schedule," head coach Greg Naumann said. "We had a lot of inconsistency in the middle of the meet, which could have been due to our training during finals this past week. We did have strong finishes out of Megan Popp in the 1000, and our men's relays at the beginning and end of the meet."

Tyler Neaveill pulled off the lone individual event title for the men finishing first in the 50 free (22.16). He also anchored the 200 free relay (Austin Payne, Jonathan Bond, Shawn Farrar and Neaveill) and swam the third leg in the 200 medley relay (Bond, JD Furr, Neaveill and Payne), which each earned first place finishes.

Taking second in the 1000 free (10:04.31) and the 500 free (4:58.47) was Matt Abercrombie. Also earning runner-up finishes were Dylon Rykosky in the 200 free (1:47.42), Bond in 100 back (53.99), and Doug Ogilvie in one-meter (286.88) and three-meter (292.65) diving.

Megan Popp paced the women placing first in the 1000 free (11:01.31), besting the second place finisher by more than seven seconds. She also took third in the 500 free (5:32.56).

Earning runner-up finishes in their respective events were Lizzie Hollopeter in the 100 back (1:03.03), Julia Rassmussen in the 100 free (55.32) and Abby Hansen in the 200 back (2:22.31).

Leatherneck swimming and diving returns to action on Saturday (Jan. 12) at the IUPUI Quad Meet held in Indianapolis, Ind. The meet will begin at 6 p.m.

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