LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – The 2013 Southern
Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Swimming & Diving
Championships will be held February 13-16 at the Rockwall
Independent School District Natatorium in Rockwall, Texas.
It is the second consecutive year that the conference meet will be
held at the Rockwall ISD.
Trinity University is the defending champion on the men’s
side. The Tigers earned their fifth SCAC men’s swimming and
diving title and first since 2004 by easily outpointing the field,
finishing with 984 points to second-place Colorado College’s
698 and Sewanee’s 638.
Trinity University head coach John Ryan returns
three swimmers who earned All-SCAC honors in 2012. Senior Spencer
Bard swept both the 100 and 200 butterfly at last year’s
conference championship meet. His winning time in the 100 butterfly
(49.63) established a new SCAC championship meet record. Bard also
swam on the winning 200 and 400 yard medley relay teams at the 2012
championships as those squads posted the second- and third-fastest
times, respectively, in conference meet history. Sophomore Stephen
Culberson returns to defend his 100 backstroke title. His winning
time (52.11) at the 2012 championship meet was the third-fastest in
conference meet history. Culberson was also part of three winning
relay teams. In addition to swimming with Bard on the 200 and 400
medley relay, he was part of the winning 200 free relay team, which
swam the second-fastest time in that event’s history. Junior
Lucas Belury posted All-SCAC finishes at last year’s meet in
three events – the 500 free (second place), the 1650 free
(second place) and the 400 IM (second place). First-year swimmer
Andrew Thiesse, who has been selected SCAC Swimmer-of-the
–Week twice this season, has posted the fastest 200 free
(1:47.98) and 200 back (1:59.98) times posted in the conference
heading into the championship meet. First-year diver Stuart Sproul
will look to continue the Tigers’ excellence on the boards.
Sproul was SCAC Diver-of-the-Week in Week 3 and is coming off a
first-place finish on the 3-meter board and a third-place finish on
the 1-meter board at the UIW Invitational.
Colorado College, who joined the conference prior
to the 2007 season, posted its highest finish ever with a
second-place finish at the 2012 conference championships. The
Tigers return a couple of All-SCAC swimmers from a year ago –
sophomores Matt Nadel and Chris Garrity – as well as the
conference’s defending Diver-of-the-Meet, sophomore Austin
Howlett. Nadel posted third place finishes in both the 500 and 1650
freestyle in 2012 and was also on the winning 800 freestyle relay
team that set a new SCAC championship meet record (6:47.01).
Garrity, who earned SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Week honors the second week
of January, placed third in the 100 backstroke at the 2012
championships. Howlett won the 3-meter board (484.60) and placed
second on the 1-meter board (444.20) at the 2012 conference
championship meet. He has prevailed on the 1-meter board five times
in nine competitions this season while earning SCAC
Diver-of-the-Week honors three times. Howlett, who has national
meet aspirations, has posted a 1-meter NCAA qualifying score three
times and a 3-meter qualifying score four times in 2013. Head coach
Anne Goodman James will also count on contributions from first-year
swimmer Colin Chupik. Chupik, who eared SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Week
honors in Week 5 and has the fastest 100 butterfly (52.77) and
second-fastest 200 butterfly (2:00.79) in the conference this
season.
After a sixth-place finish in 2012 under first-year head coach Jon
Duncan, Southwestern University appears primed for
a strong meet. Heading into the 2013 championship, three first-year
swimmers have posted top times in their respective events. Dylan
Johnson has the third and second fastest times, respectively, in
the conference in the 50 free (21.59) and 100 free (47.73), Tommy
Frashier (SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Week in Week 4) has posted the top
times in the 500 free (4:46.01) and 1650 free (16:34.71), and Simon
Gersib sits atop the current rankings in both the 200 butterfly
(1:59.47) and the 200 IM (1:59.11). All three look like strong
candidates to post the first All-SCAC performance by a Southwestern
male swimmer since Graham Ice finished third in the 100 butterfly
at the 2004 championships. Junior Kyler Wood, who earned his own
Swimmer-of-the-Week honor in Week 1, has the top times this season
in the conference for both the 100 (59.01) and 200 (2:12.04)
breaststroke. Sophomore Ty Lapinski will be vying for All-SCAC
honors in the 200 free (1:48.23 – second fastest in the
SCAC), 500 free (4:51.79 – third fastest in the SCAC),
Centenary College, in its first season of SCAC
competition, has names scattered throughout the top times
leaderboard in several events heading into the 2013 conference
championship meet. Coach Butch Jordan has three seniors who have
posted conference-best times in three different events this season:
Devin Ross in the 50 free (20.91), Matthew Pittman in the 100 free
(45.17), and Ross Olivier in the 100 backstroke (54.05).
Olivier was selected SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Week in Week 8 after
sweeping the 100 and 200 back in a dual meet against Southwestern.
Junior Austin Butler, who was SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Week in Week 2,
has the second-fastest times in the 50 free (21.53) and the 100
breaststroke (1:00.76), the third-fastest time in the 100
backstroke (54.63), and the fourth-fastest times in the 100 free
(48.24) and 200 free (1:48.99).
Austin College, which finished seventh at last
year’s championship meet, will be led by the senior trio of
Zach Bengston, Jacob Fenster and Mark Perez. Bengston swept the 1-
and 3-meter board competition at three meets this year and earned
SCAC Diver-of-the-Year honors in Week 4. Fenster has posted a top
10 conference time in the 100 butterfly (55.72) and Perez has
posted team-best times this season in the 50 (23.09), 100 (50.76)
and 200 (1:52.15) free. Head coach Brian Wright will also look for
a strong performance from first-year swimmer Eric Gentzel (SCAC
Swimmer-of-the-Week in Week 9), who is coming off a victory in the
100 backstroke and a second-place finish in the 200 IM in the
team’s last meet – a dual against McMurry.
Competition at the 2013 SCAC Swimming and Diving Championships
begins on Wednesday, February 13 with the men’s 1-meter
diving at 8 p.m. CST. The swimming portion of the competition
begins on Thursday, February 14 with morning preliminaries at 10:30
a.m. and finals following at 6:30 p.m.
For a complete schedule of events, go the official website of the 2013 SCAC Swimming & Diving Championships:
http://www.scacsports.com/sports/mswimdive/2013championships/index
