For the second week in a row, the Denison men's swimming and diving team went 1-1 in split squad action. On Saturday, DU suffered 226-74 loss at the University of Pittsburgh, but picked up a 193-104 win over Grove City in Granville.
Denison picks up two event titles against the Division I Panthers. Junior Damon Rosenburg and Ryan Fleming both picked up victories. Rosenburg continued his dominance in the 100 breaststroke this season, outtouching four Pittsburgh swimmers in the process. The junior finished the race in 55.96.
Fleming's day was highlighted by a win in the 100 freestyle. The sophomore touched in at 46.33, three hundredths of a second in front of Pittsburgh's Avery Warrington. In addition to his individual title, Fleming also finished runner up in three events. He was second in the 50 free with a time of 21.14 and was part of two runner-up relay teams.
Spencer Fronk, Rosenburg, Andrew Rich and Fleming opened the day with a runner-up performance in the 200 medley relay (1:32.20). The foursome of Carlos Maciel, Fleming, Conrad Wuorinen and Fronk capped off the dual meet with a second-place finish in the 400 free relay. The team posted a time of 3:05.72. Fronk also took the silver in the 100 back (52.30), while Maciel and Rich were third in the 200 free (1:42.24) and 100 fly (50.95), respectively.
Seniors Jackson Humphrey and Al Weik combined for five third-place performance. Humphrey opened his day with a bronze finish in the 200 fly after touching in at 1:54.80. He also had success in the 200 back (1:53.54) and 200 IM (1:55.47). Weik was third in both the 500 and 1,000 freestyle events with times of 4:39.73 and 9:35.11, respectively. Junior diver Connor Dignan recorded third-place finishes in both diving events on Saturday. Dignan posted a score of 296.30 on the 1-meter board, and totaled 302.45 points in the 3-meter competition.
Back in Granville, junior Dan Hellman paced the Big Red with three event titles. Hellman captured individual victories in both the 200 fly (1:55.65) and 500 freestyle (4:51.06) events. The junior's third win came as a member of the 200 medley relay team. The foursome of Kevin Brinegar, Ben Snader, Hellman and Patrick Lombardi clocked in at 1:36.48.
Other multiple winners against Grove City included Nathan Thorne, Max Howes and freshman diver Brian Allen. Thorne won the 1,000 free and 200 breast with times of 9:50.44 and 2:13.32, respectively, while Howes' victories came in the 100 (48.29) and 200 (1:45.13) freestyle events. Allen swept both boards at the Trumbull Aquatics Center. The rookie diver posted an 11-dive score of 560.63 on the 3-meter board. He also scored 488.55 points with 11 dives in the 1-meter event.
DU's split squad schedule continues next weekend when they hit the road for two dual meets. Half the team will travel to Pittsburgh, Pa. to take on Carnegie Mellon, while the other half travels to East Lansing, Mich. to swim against Division I Michigan State.
