Tom Grossinger and Jordan DeGayner won individual titles as Colorado College turned in its most impressive performances of the season on Sunday afternoon en route to a third-place finish at the 12th Annual CC Classic.
Competing against a field comprised primarily of upper-division opponents, the Tigers won a pair of events, recorded a trio of season-best times, and posted six top-six finishes.
“We were in a position tonight where the team was exhausted and could have just gone through the motions in today's finals session,” said head coach Anne Goodman James. “Instead, they truly stepped up to some phenomenal performances. Somehow, this turned out to be our best session of the weekend.
DeGayner came from behind to claim the 200-yard freestyle, touching the wall in 1:44.54, which was 1.35 seconds ahead of Jacob Dole from the Colorado School of Mines and .61 seconds off his own season-best time in the event. Devin Wall's time of 1:51.78 was good for sixth place.
In the 200 butterfly, DeGayner chopped 8.5 seconds off the team's previous season best and finished third in a time of 2:04.43.
Grossinger's time of 59.94 was good for first place in the 100 breaststroke and .61 seconds quicker than his previous best this season. Tyler Larrabee won the consolation final by clocking in at 1:04.25.
“For the first time this season, Jordan had some competition in the 200 free and it brought out a season best performance in an exciting come from behind victory,” Goodman James said. “Tom dominated the 100 breaststroke from the start, with a sub-minute performance before taper. That's an exciting sign of what is to come at the SCAC championships.”
Will Bowers posted a third-place finish in the 200 backstroke in a time of 2:13.62.
The Tigers finished the weekend meet by taking fourth in the 200 free relay, with Jack Ludwig and Flynn McGuire teaming with Larrabee and Wahl for a time of 1:32.82, which was only .42 seconds off the team's season-best time in the event.
“I was proud of how gutsy our team was, and how they stuck to their race plans,” Goodman James said. “We are glad to have three and a half weeks before our championship meet, and plan to use that time to taper and fine tune.”
Colorado School of Mines won the men's title with 994.5 points, followed by the University of Colorado club team (579), Colorado College (408), Metro State College club (309), Mesa State College (205.5) and Hendrix College (143).
CC is idle until Feb. 17 when the Tigers travel to Louisville, Ky., for the 2010 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships.
