The Wheaton women and Carthage men led from start to finish en route to winning the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Swimming Championships Saturday at Carthage College.

It was the second title in three years for the Carthage men and second overall in school history. For the Wheaton women, the win was their 16th title in school history and 11th in a row dating back to 1998.

The women’s team scores include: Wheaton (976.5), Carthage (798.5), Illinois Wesleyan (348.5), Augustana (299), Rose-Hulman (280), Millikin (263) and North Central (152.5). The men’s team scores include: Carthage (1,025), Wheaton (742), Rose-Hulman (521.5), Illinois Wesleyan (365.5), Millikin (232.5), Augustana (154.5) and North Central (101).

Carthage won CCIW Most Valuable Swimmer honors on both the men’s and women’s side as Michelle Pelka and Bryce Davis took home the distinguished honor. Lauren Hansen of Illinois Wesleyan and Bradley Smith of Wheaton were named outstanding participants. Rose-Hulman coach Mike Caruso was named CCIW Coach of the Year on the men’s side while Carthage’s Sue Nutty earned the same distinction on the women’s side.

The final night of competition kicked off with Katlin Marko of Wheaton setting a new school record in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 17:42.02 to win the event. Marko’s time topped the old mark of 17:24.84 set by Wheaton’s Becky Bird in 2005. Bird, coincidentally, finished second with a time of 18:00.43. On the men’s side, Carthage’s Paul Busse set a new school record, winning with a time of 16:08.66. Busse’s time beat the old mark of 16:10.58 set by Carthage’s Bryan Pelka in 2006. Ethan Cramer of Wheaton was second (16:23.27).

Wheaton’s Jillian Morris was champion in the 200-yard backstroke (2:06.13) while teammate Ashley Matthiesen was second (2:10.70). Kyle Drake of Carthage was champion on the men’s side (1:52.42) while teammate Bob Pellican was second (1:58.49).

Katherine Burt took home the title for Wheaton in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 51.87. Carthage’s Amanda Croix was second at 52.29. The men’s 100 freestyle saw Carthage’s Davis win the event with a time of 45.95 while Wheaton’s Tim Linn was second (47.06).

In the women’s 200-yard breaststroke, Wheaton’s Liz Hartman came away the winner with a meet-record time of 2:25.16, topping the old mark of 2:26.33 set by Adrianne Astuno from Wheaton in 2003. Teammate Renee Shear was second in the event with a time of 2:27.62. On the men’s side, Stephen Schranck won with a time of 2:06.21. Illinois Wesleyan’s Ben Rock came in second with a time of 2:09.64.

Michelle Pelka from Carthage won the 200-yard butterfly (2:08.48) while Wheaton’s Morris was second (2:12.51). Illinois Wesleyan’s Mike Kozak and Rose-Hulman’s Jacob Sorenson tied for first on the men’s side of the 200 butterfly, finishing with identical 1:53.50 times.

In the 400-yard medley relay, Wheaton’s Hartman, Jenna Sveen, Ashley Matthiesen and Burt won with a time of 3:31.23 while the Carthage team of Sarah Reynertson, Pelka, Carolyn Kelly and Croix were second (3:34.21). On the men’s side, Carthage’s Davis, Blake Bendix, Nathan Ripley and Andy Bax took home the title with a time of 3:05.91. Wheaton’s Matthew Gallagher, Linn, AJ Provonsha and Rob Morris finished second (3:08.48).