Tiger men third in NCAC swimming

Sunday, February 16, 2014

GRANVILLE, Ohio -- DePauw men's swimming, ranked 14th in the nation, wrapped up competition at the North Coast Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships by placing third with 1,242.5 points.

Denison won with 1,898.5, while Kenyon was second with 1,851.

Highlighting the Tigers' performances was Casey Hooker's Saturday win in the 200-yard butterfly in a pool record and NCAA "B" time of 1:49.85.

DePauw opened the meet on Thursday with a pair of all-conference swims from relay teams.

The Tigers' 200-yard freestyle relay of Alex Alfonso, Joe Hessburg, Jack Burgeson and Blake Lehmann earned all-NCAC honors with a third-place showing in 1:22.78.

After finishing the 500 free prelims in ninth, Hooker came back to finish fourth in the finals in 4:31.44. Alex Grissom was ninth in the event in 4:37.42.

Alfonso placed fourth in the 200 individual medley in 1:51.28 and Burgeson was sixth in the 50 free in 20.98 seconds after a 20.80 performance in the prelims.

The Tigers' 400 medley relay of Chris Ercoli, Matt Gleason, Sam Parker and Cam Johnson also turned in an all-conference swim after finishing third in 3:30.61.

DePauw put in another solid day of competition on Friday.

The Tigers' 200-yard medley relay of Lehmann, Gleason, Hooker and Burgeson notched an NCAA "B" cut and earned all-North Coast Athletic Conference honors after placing second in 1:30.94 which was just .81 seconds off the school record time.

Hooker finished second in the 100 butterfly in 48.76 which was just .01 seconds slower than the school record he set in December. Lehmann was eighth in the event in an NCAA "B" time of 50.21.

Grissom was sixth in the 200 freestyle in an NCAA "B" time of 1:40.91 after a 1:39.92 time in the prelims. Stephen McMurtry also made the finals in the 200 free and placed ninth in 1:42.26.

Three Tigers earned spots in the 100 breaststroke finals and two finished in NCAA "B" times. Gleason was fifth in 56.85 seconds, while Luke Hessburg finished sixth in 57.36 and Andrew Petersen was seventh in 58.27.

The evening concluded with Hooker, Grissom, McMurtry and Matt Haeske finishing second in the 800 free relay in an NCAA "B" time of 6:41.75.

While Hooker's victory in the 200 butterfly was the high point on Saturday, it was among several good swims on the final day of competition.

Hooker led four Tigers in the top nine of the race. McMurtry was fourth in the race in 1:54.00 followed by Matt Gullickson in sixth in 1:54.94 and Tommy Hiller in ninth in 1:58.97.

Alex Alfonso finished in a three-way tie for second in the 100 freestyle in a "B" time of 45.31 seconds with Alex Grissom coming in ninth in 46.61.

Gleason also made a "B" cut in the 200 breaststroke with a fifth-place finish in 2:05.11 as did Andrew Petersen in sixth in 2:05.46. George Morrison was a ninth-place finisher in the 200 backstroke in 2:00.93.

The Tigers' 400 free relay of Lehmann, Alfonso, Hooker and Burgeson was third in an NCAA "B" time of 3:00.61.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: