DePauw winter sports teams remained active over Chrismas break and Winter Term with games, matches and practices. All three Tiger squads saw at least some success as the rest of the DePauw population took classes and jet-set around the globe.
Men's Basketball
The men's basketball team kept a staggering pace while playing eight games during Winter Term. They gave up only two victories to Allegheny and Wooster. The squad maintained a 5-1 record at home during January, taking home some hard fought victories, including two wins in overtime over Wittenberg and Ohio Wesleyan.
After the loss to Allegheny in overtime early on in the month, the Tigers had something to prove come end of regulation time against Wittenberg. Junior Alex Payne scored an impressive buzzer-beater to give the team a 68-66 victory at the end of OT. Senior Barry Flynn led the charge to tie the game at the end of regulation against Ohio Wesleyan. Coming off of an OT victory, the team was ready to play hard defense. Flynn led DePauw with a double-double, scoring 17 points and snagging 10 rebounds.
The successful month of wins gives the men's team good momentum to recover from the loss of their rivalry game at Wabash Wednesday night; which saw the team leave with an overall record of 13-7 and a conference record of 6-5.
Men's Swimming
There was no rest for the undefeated men's swim team over this Winter Term. Along with embarking on a week-long training trip with the women's team, the men's squad placed first in the six-team Washington-St. Louis Invitational and bested Illinois Wesleyan and the University of Chicago to come out of January with a 7-0 record.
Freshman Danny McGuiness in the 200-yard freestyle, freshman Blake Lehmann in the 50 free, freshman Alex Grissom in the 100 free, freshman Stephen McMurtry in the 500 free and freshman Andrew Peterson in the 200 breaststroke all placed first against Illinois Wesleyan in their respective events. The Tigers also won the 200 medley relay and the 200 free relay for a final score of 123 to Illinois Wesleyan's 53.
The meet against the University of Chicago was a similar success story. Sophomore Casey Hooker picked up three individual victories. Grisson and Lehmann took home double wins. Senior Robby Spichiger and freshman Luke Hessburg each took home wins as well. The victory of eighth-ranked University of Chicago extended the men's dual meet winning streak to 23.
Women's Swimming
The women's team kept up the same gruelling training and meet schedule as the men over January. They picked up a second place win at the Washington-St. Louis invitational, besting four other teams. They could not out swim Washington-St. Louis, however, who won on their home territory. The Tiger's finished second in all five relay events and had many impressive individual performances. The women also took home a victory from Illinois Wesleyan.
The Tigers then lost to eighth ranked Maroons of the University of Chicago on Saturday. Freshman Caroline Bridges picked up three individual wins in the 200, 100 and 50 yard freestyle races. Other notable individual performances came from sophomore Emily Weber, sophomore Allison Kirby, freshman Reese Edwards, sophomore Morgan Graves and seniors Chelsea Courtney and Nicole Rossillo, all of whom placed in the top three in their events.
The Tigers enter their final meet of the season Saturday at Rose-Hulman with a 4-2 record.