While many students spent their spring breaks relaxing in exotic locations, six members of DePauw's swimming team had a busy few days in Knoxville, Tenn.
Tiger swimmers qualified to compete in 10 events at last week's NCAA Div. III Swimming and Diving Championships, garnering all-American honors in two individual events and one relay.
The team of junior Johnny Montgomery, sophomore Matt Kukurugya, senior Josh Baugh and freshman Joe Hessburg opened the meet last Wednesday with a 17th-place finish in the preliminaries of the 200-yard medley relay. Junior Catie Baker also placed 23rd in the 200-yard individual medley at 2:07.84.
On day two of competition, Montgomery, Hessburg, freshman Jack Burgeson and Baugh took 15th in the preliminaries of the 200 free relay. That performance qualified the Tigers to compete in the consolation finals later that evening, where they earned honorable mention all-American honors with a 14th-place showing at 1:24.09.
"Getting [to the NCAA's] helps our national image, which is really important with us joining a new conference," Baugh said. "It's just so much fun to get there. Just to be at the top of your sport is a really neat experience."
Baugh, Kukurugya, Montgomery and Burgeson finished 21st in the 400 medley relay trials, posting a time of 3:29.78. Baker bested her own school record in the trials of the 100 breaststroke before taking eighth in the championship final. The junior earned all-American honors with her time of 1:04.96 that evening.
"It was a great feeling," Baker said. "It was one of those amazing swims that come out of nowhere."
Kukurugya captured the first all-American honors of his career on day three, posting an eighth-place finish in the championship finals of the 100-yard breaststroke. The sophomore recorded a time of 56.66 to break his own school record in the event. Meanwhile, the relay team of Montgomery, Hessburg, Burgeson and Baugh took 20th in the 800 free relay with a time of 6:54.26.
DePauw closed out the final day of competition Saturday with a 21st-place performance in the 400 free relay. Montgomery, Hessburg, Burgeson and Baugh combined for a time of 3:07.58. Meanwhile, Kukurugya caught a tough break in the preliminaries of the 200 breaststroke when he was disqualified on a kick violation.
Baker picked up honorable mention all-American honors on Saturday with a ninth-place showing in the 200 breaststroke. Her time of 2:20.32 broke her own school record in the event. Baker wrapped up the four-day competition with 20 points to represent DePauw with a 31st-place finish. Emory won the women's title with 614 points, while Denison took second and Williams College came in third.
On the men's side, the Tigers finished in 31st with 17 points overall. Future North Coast Athletic Conference foe Denison University took home the national title, totaling 500.5 points. Kenyon College, another NCAC member institution, finished second with 499.5 points, while Emory University placed third.
Montgomery picked up all-American honors for the third-straight year, while Baker earned all-American honors for the fifth time in her career. A senior, Baugh collected all-American honors for the 10th time in his career, including each of the past four seasons.
"It was a privilege more than anything," Baugh said. "I'm really happy with my career here...All these accolades that I've acquired seemed kind of inconceivable when I first got here. I'm just really fortunate to have...had good teammates and support."