MONMOUTH, Ill. - Western Illinois men's swimming and diving finishes regular season competition with it's first overall win of the year besting host Monmouth 177-68, Augustana 146-112 and Valparaiso 170-83. The women overcame Monmouth 140-104 and Augustana 131-120 but fell to Valparaiso 144-99.
The Leathernecks tallied seven first place efforts and 14 runner-up finishes with a total of 15 event season best times.
"We had a solid meet against Valpo, Augustana, and Monmouth," head coach Greg Naumann said. "Our men's team was able to pull out wins over all three schools, and our women's team was able to win over Monmouth and Augustana. The team swam well pulling out wins throughout the meet. We had solid swims from Jonathan Bond, Julia Rassmussen, Josh Davis, Tyler Neaveill, and Jamie Grau. The team did a great job getting behind one another throughout the entire meet. This is a good showing for how the team will operate at conference."
In men's competition, Jacob Shain took the top spot in 200 Fly defeating the runner-up by more than two seconds and in 50 Free competition Tyler Neaveill earned first.
Jonathan Bond earned a first place finish in 200 Back and a second place finish in 100 Fly, tallying season top times in each event. Also contributing to the Leatherneck effort was Josh Davis taking first in 200 Breast and second in 200 IM and 100 Breast. Jack Killheffer took second in 100 Free.
Julia Rassmussen and Jamie Grau sparked the women's effort for the Leathernecks. Rassmussen earned a top finish in 100 Free, while Grau took second in 100 Breast and first in 200 Breast.
Tallying second place finishes were Shawn Fitzpatrick in 1000 Free and 200 Back, Mary Betsworth in 200 Free and 50 Free, Taylor Miller in 500 Free, and Jessica Schnaiter in 100 Back.
The women's 400 Free Relay team also cruised to an event title by more than two seconds.
Western Illinois returns to the water for the Summit League Swimming and Diving Championships beginning on Wednesday, February 15. The meet is hosted by Oakland in Rochester, Mich.
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