LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga – All six Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference men’s swimming & diving teams competed this past weekend.
Austin College
The Ausitn College men's swimming team placed eighth with 151
points at the Western Shootout this past weekend.
Centenary College
The Centenary men's swimming team placed fifth with 261
points at the Western Shootout this past weekend.
Colorado College
All-American Austin Howlett
eclipsed his own school record and easily surpassed the NCAA
Qualifying mark on the 3-meter board to lead the Colorado College
men's swimming and diving team to a fourth-place finish at the
Western Shootout. Howlett posted an 11-dive score
of 542.79, which was 102.79 better than the minimum NCAA qualifying
score and 15.04 better than his school record of 527.75 set on Feb.
16, 2013. The senior from Makawao, Hawaii, also
met the NCAA qualifying mark while winning the 11-dive event on the
1-meter board with a score of 448.20 and a six-dive total of 333.61
in the 3-meter diving. Senior Chris
Garrity recorded ninth-place finishes in the 100-
(57.06) and 200-yard (2:09.39)
backstrokes. Seniors Sam Zuke, Erik Laitos, and
Brian Kopec teamed with Garrity for a
seventh-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay in a time of
1:30.61. The Tigers are idle until Dec. 17 when
the University of La Verne visits Schlessman Natatorium.
McMurry University
McMurry's men's swimmers placed sixth at the 2014
Southwestern Shootout on Friday and Saturday at the CISD Aquatics
Center. Kameron Salinas paced the War Hawk men with a
fifth in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.18) and an eighth in the 200
breaststroke (2:22.68). Salinas - along
with teammates David Bowers, Vincent Crosby II, and Kent
Grimes – comprised the 200 and 400 yard
medley relay teams. In the 200 MR, the quartet posted a time of
1:31.87 to place sixth out of 19 groups. In the 400 MR, the McMurry
time of 3:46.27 was good for seventh (also out of
19).
Southwestern University
A ten-team meet couldn't stop the Pirate swimming and
diving team on their tear through November as they brought home
first place on both sides. The men posted 855.5
points. Both sides had a big night on Friday, closing
day one of the two-day shootout in first place. Both 200 free
relays took first place with the men finishing in 1:25.95 and the
women in 1:40.56. The women also had a first place relay finish in
the 400 medley relay with a time of 4:07.78. Southwestern men took
second through fourth place in the 500 free with Shelby
Hall, Ty Lapinski and Evan Jones and second
through fifth place in the 200 IM. Matt Sluss led the
charge in the 200 IM posting a school-record time of 1:56.18. On
day two, Alex Villarreal had a school-record swim in the
400 IM with a swim of 4:13.69. Martinez was hot on his heels to
secure second place in 4:15.13. Julian Smith posted two
SU records, one coming in the 100 back with a time of 53.26 to earn
him a second place finish. The second was in the 200 back with a
first place finish in a time of 1:53.56. Villarreal was not far
behind as he took second in the event in 1:55.44. Simmon
Belaineh also captured a first place finish in the 100 free
with a time of 47.78 while Nathan Townsend took third in
48.68.
Trinity University
The Trinity men’s swimming and diving teams lost
dual meets against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges at Palo Alto
College Aquatic Center. The Tiger men fell to the Stags 217-105, in
the two-day meet. Stephen Culberson paced the men’s team by
winning two individual races and swimming as the anchor in a relay.
The NCAA national champion in the 100 freestyle won his signature
event with a time of 46.57 seconds. He also was the 50 freestyle
winner, at 21.07 seconds. Culberson, Isaac Johnson, Adam Thomas,
and Alek Barba finished first in the 200 freestyle relay (1:24.35).
Andrew Thiesse won the 500 freestyle (4:40.39) for the
Tigers. Trinity’s diving teams will compete December 6 at the
University of Texas Collegiate Invitational at Austin, Texas.
The divers will host the State University of New York-Fredonia
January 15-16 at Hixon Natatorium. A full swimming and diving meet
is set for January 17 as the Trinity hosts Southwestern
University.