SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Southwestern University's Keith Gill brought home gold in the 50 free - the final event of the evening - and the Pirates continue to lead after the second day of the 2019 SCAC Men's Swimming & Diving Championship. Official Website | Thursday's Complete Results | Photo Gallery
With 268 points, the Pirates hold the same 22-point margin they possessed after Day One, but this time, the immediate school trailing is Trinity. After a slow opening night placed them in fifth, the Tigers rebounded and bounced to second place with 246 total points. Colorado College slipped to third and currently sits with 220 points.
The victory in the 50 free represented the third straight in the event for the Southwestern program and it was the first individual win for the sophomore Gill who touched in a time of 20.77 - the same as his prelim swim from earlier that day. Shamzi Alkaff and Leon Faulk, both of Trinity finished second and third, respectively, in times of 21.17 and 21.26.
The evening got started with a wild race in the 200 free relay as the top two finishing teams - Trinity and Southwestern - both DQ'ed after being cited for early take-offs. The Centenary College team of Miguel Vasquez, Eddi Dyess, Mitchell Lulich and Blake Smith bumped all the way to first place with a finishing time of 1:25.75. The gold also marked just the third relay victory in program history and the first for the Gents since the 2013 squad earned wins in the 400 medley and 400 free relays. Colorado College placed second in a time of 1:26.23 and Austin College was third in 1:28.03.
The 500 free represented the first individual swim on the men's side and it proved to be one of the best races of the evening. Cade Thumann unseated two-time defending champion Jacob Hurrell-Zitelman of Trinity, touching the wall first in a time of 4:37.84 to earn the gold. In the closest finish in this event since the 2009 championships, Hurrell-Zitelman was second in a time of 4:38.65. Southwestern's Peter Robinson earned bronze in a time of 4:39.11.
After swimming times that bested both the SCAC championship and open records in the morning prelims, Colorado College's Eric Dallesasse broke the 200 IM marks again in the evening, posting a winning swim of 1:51.97. Trinity's Daniel Sarman, who also broke both records in the prelims and actually held the new SCAC championship and open marks for a few hours (1:52.89), finishing second in a time of 1:52.78. James Warren of Trinity was third in a time of 1:53.21.
With two days in the books the team standings after event 12 are as follows:
1) Southwestern University - 268
2) Trinity University - 246
3) Colorado College - 220
4) Centenary College - 173
5) Austin College - 129
6) University of the Ozarks - 115
7) McMurry University - 98
Competition continues on Friday with preliminaries beginning at 10:30 a.m., women's and men's finals at 6 p.m. Click here for the complete schedule of events.
