DePauw's men, women 400-relay teams break school record at DIII championship

Sunday, March 23, 2014
The 400-yard frestyle team of (from left) Sophomore Alex Grissom, junior Matt Haeske, junior Casey Hooker, and Sophomore stephen McMurty placed fifth in hte prelims but finished with 2:59.78 which put them in fourth place. That time broke the DePauw record which was set in last year's championships. (courtesy photo)

INDIANAPOLIS -- A school-record 400-yard freestyle relay capped off the Tigers' 15th-place finish at the NCAA Division III Men's Swimming and Diving Championships Saturday.

Casey Hooker, Blake Lehmann, Alex Alfonso and Alex Grissom were fifth in the prelims in 3:01.18, but finished under the three-minute mark and in fourth place in 2:59.78. That mark broke the DePauw record of 3:00.41 set at last year's championships.

In the morning prelims, Lehmann was 34th in the 100 free in 45.78, while Alfonso was 35th in 45.79 and Grissom 38th in 45.87.

DePauw Women's 400-yard relay team of (from left) Emily Weber, Angel Newton, Caroline Brieges and Kristen Olson broke the school record twice Saturday, finishing with a time 3:27.42 in the final round. Olsen also broke her own school record in the 200-backstroke finishing 18th with a time of 2:03.15 (courtesy photo)

Matt Gleason competed the 200 breaststroke in 2:04.98 to finish 22nd.

The Tigers totaled 100 points and finished 15th marking the sixth time seven years DePauw has finished in the top 20.

DePauw's women's 400-yard freestyle relay broke the school record twice Saturday and finished 10th as the Tigers totaled 62 points and placed 15th at the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships at the IU Natatorium.

Caroline Bridges, Emily Weber, Kristen Olson and Erin Horne were 11th after finishing the prelims in 3:27.89 to break the record of 3:28.50 set at last year's Championships. In the finals, the four finished in 3:27.42.

During the prelims, Bridges tied for the 16th and final spot for the consolation finals in 51.77 seconds, but lost the swimoff with Kenyon's Jenner McLeod by .12 seconds after finishing in 51.68.

Olson was 18th in the 200 backstroke in 2:03.15 which broke her own school record by 2.3 seconds. Weber was 20th in the 1,650 free in 17:20.86.

The 15th-place finish was DePauw's best since the Tigers were ninth in 2008.

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