GARLAND, Texas – After coming into the day with just a narrow 10-point lead at the 2023 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships, the 23rd-ranked Trinity men's swimming & diving team benefitted from an outstanding day of results to widen the margin considerably.
The Tigers finished the day with 672 total points compared to 595 points for Colorado College in second place. Southwestern University is third with 522.5 points after three days, while McMurry University is fourth with 213.5 points. University of the Ozarks has scored 188 points and stands in fifth, Austin College is sixth with 143 points, and Centenary College is seventh with 62 points.
Today's action not only included swimming finals, but also featured the first day of the diving competition. Following the 10:30 a.m. swimming prelims, the men's 1-meter diving event took place along with the women's 3-meter contest.
Last year's SCAC Men's Diver of the Meet,
Konstantine Partalas (San Antonio, Texas / Reagan) came in as the two-time defending champion on the low board and he didn't disappoint. Partalas scored 540 points and edged out Colorado College by less than six points to give Trinity its eighth consecutive win in this event. He and
Garrett Guillet (San Antonio, Texas / Churchill) both earned NCAA "B" Cut scores, as Guillet finished sixth with a score of 318.05 on Friday.
After diving, the swimming finals began with the grueling 400 individual medley.
John Key (El Paso, Texas / Franklin) took gold for the Tigers with his time of 4:03.80 that was just over a second off of the SCAC Championships record. The win is the first for a Trinity swimmer since the 2019 season.
Trinity piled up the points in the next event, taking five of the top six spots in the 100 butterfly.
Michael Kohl (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) won the event with a time of 47.85 seconds and
Caleb Manifold (Helotes, Texas / Homeschool) finished second in 48.90. The duo won gold and silver for the second straight year and both Tiger swimmers notched NCAA "B" Cut times in the process.
Nathaniel Early (Austin, Texas / Westwood) and
William Walker (Houston, Texas / Westside) both produced All-SCAC swims in the 200 freestyle, which Early won with a time of 1:39.24 that is less than one second from the Trinity record. Walker finished third in 1:42.02 for his best time of the season. Early also won the 200 free in 2021 and was third last season.
Kendal Southwell (Rio Rancho, N.M. / Calvert Online Academy) took back his title in the 100 breaststroke, finishing in 55.76 to miss the Tiger record by just 0.27 seconds. Southwell won the 100 breast in 2021, but finished as the runner-up last season. Trinity also had four of the eight swimmers in the championship final to add 60 points to the day's total.
The 100 backstroke was the final individual swimming event of the day and it ended with another Trinity victory, as
Matteo Lanzara (Moraga, Calif. / Campolindo) emerged as the champion with a time of 49.99 seconds for his career-best time. This marks the third win in four years for Lanzara in this event, including back-to-back wins in 2022 and 2023.
The Tiger men finished the day by winning both the championship and consolation finals in the 400 medley relay to earn the maximum amount of points. The relay team of
John Fontenot (Austin, Texas / St. Andrew's)
, Spencer Steward (Kearney, Mo. / Kearney), Manifold, and Walker won the consolation final by nearly six seconds, finishing in 3:24.96. Lanzara, Southwell, Kohl, and Early teamed up for the win in the championship final with a time of 3:17.99. That time marks a new SCAC Championship record, a new Trinity record, and an NCAA "B" cut time. Trinity has won this event for four straight years with Lanzara a part of each of those teams. Southwell, Kohl, and Early have joined him for the last three event wins.
Up Next
The SCAC Championships concludes with the final day of the meet on Saturday. Swimming prelims begin at 10:30 a.m., followed by another round of diving at 12:30 p.m. The swim finals are set for a 6:00 p.m. start, after which the team champions and individual awards will be announced.
Following the prelims session, the 3-meter men's diving event will be joined by the women's 1-meter competition. Swimming finals begin with the 1,650 freestyle, followed by the 200 backstroke, the 100 free, the 200 breaststroke, and the 200 butterfly. After a break, the 400 free relay will be the final event of the four-day meet.
