Men's Swimming & Diving Recap (Week 4) - Around the SCAC

Men's Swimming & Diving Recap (Week 4) - Around the SCAC

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga – Four Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference men’s swimming & diving teams competed this past weekend. 

Centenary College
The Centenary swimming teams hosted Southwestern on Saturday afternoone, falling 161-93 to the Pirates. 

Colorado College
Despite winning both diving competitions and three individual races, the Colorado College men's swimming and diving team dropped a 130-102 decision to Adams State University Saturday at Schlessman Natatorium. Senior Austin Howlett, the reigning Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Diver of the Week, won both the 1-and 3-meter diving competitions with scores of 313.15 and 322.73, respectively. Freshman Ben Hicks placed second in each event. In the pool, senior Sam Zuke captured first place in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.62 seconds, followed by senior Chris Garrity in second place at 23.03. The duo, along with senior Brian Kopec and sophomore Daniel Oldendorf, won the 400-yard freestyle team 3:22.69. Garrity also finished second in the 100-yard butterfly (55.63) while Oldendorf was second in the 200-yard medley (2:06.22). In the 100-yard freestyle, sophomore Crane Sarris posted an impressive winning time of 49.25 while Zuke finished third in 51.43. Senior Erik Laitos placed second in the 100-yard backstroke and senior Matthew Nadel was third in the 1000-yard freestyle, while Kopec and Laitos were third and fourth, respectively, in the 200-yard freestyle. The Tigers travel to Southlake, Texas, next weekend for the Trinity Western Shootout, Nov. 21-22.

McMurry University
McMurry University's swimming team hosted its first home meet of the season, welcoming the University of Texas-Permian Basin and St' Gregory's University to the Phillips Family Center on Friday evening. The meet was scored as a double-dual contest. In the men's competition, UTPB defeated both SGU (141-55) and McM (140-58). St. Gregory topped host McMurry (95-86) in a tight race. The War Hawk men – Davis Bowers, Kamron Salinas, Vincent Crosby II, and Cameron Mills - cut it even closer in touching ahead of the Cavaliers' men's team. McM was clocked at 1:40.67 and SGU at 1:40.86, just 19/100ths of a second apart. For McM's men, it was Salinas and Bowers who earned event wins. Salinas, a junior, won the 200 yard individual medley by nearly a full second in a time of 2:06.06. Meanwhile, Bowers got the top spot in the 100 yard backstroke, finishing at 58.31 seconds. Ahead of UTPB's Kyle Nelms (59.14). Crosby, also a freshman, was second, individually, in the 100 yard butterfly (54.24). Mills, a sophomore, went 23.03 in the 50-yard freestyle, good for third place.

Southwestern University
Southwestern swimming continued their domination in the water with a 161-93 win over the Gents in Shreveport Saturday. SU dominated the men's 100 fly and 50 free and women's 50 fly, taking 1, 2, 3 finishes in the events. Matt Sluss out-touched Evan Jones at the wall in the 100 fly as Sluss posted a time of 54.14 and Jones 54.15 for first and second, respectively. Shelby Hall wasn't far off with a third place finish in 54.70. Simmon Belaineh took first in the 50 free in 22.77, Nathan Townsend second in 23.04 and Zach Kline third in 23.05. Blythe Nava led the charge in the 50 fly with a time of 27.61. Kenly Gaynor took second in 28.51 and Madison Doty in third in 29.12. Belainah also took first in the 100 free in 49.04 and teamed up with Hall, Michael Glover and Alex Christensen to win the 200 free relay. Mickey Scharbrough had a pair of first place finishes in the 50 breast (28.22) and 100 breast (102.07) while Alex Villarreal matched the effort with wins in the 100 back (54.75) and 200 IM (2:00.41). Matt Sluss added a win in the 500 free with a time of 4:55.55, Jones in the 50 fly in 24.90 and Oliver Sale in the 1000 free in 10:50.79.