Men's Swimming & Diving Recap (Week 5) - Around the SCAC

Men's Swimming & Diving Recap (Week 5) - Around the SCAC

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.