SAN ANTONIO – The #19 Trinity men's swimming & diving team continues to torch the competition, completing the second day of the Tiger Invitational with a lead of nearly 200 points over the nearest team.
"The men put together another great performance today," said Head Coach
Cathleen Pruden. "We had a deep crew shine in the 400 IM today as well as some nice swims out of the 100 breaststrokers and 200 freestylers. It is fun to see these guys who train together on a regular basis all step up and race together. Most folks are racing double the distance tomorrow and we look forward to wrapping up this meet on a high note."
Luke Fender (Jackson, Miss. / St. Andrew's Episcopal) stepped out of his comfort zone today in prelims and swam the 400 IM, touching at 4:05.60, the ninth fastest time in Trinity history. Although he didn't swim the event in finals, his teammates
Theodore Ho (Jackson, Miss. / St. Andrew's Episcopal),
Grant Bibza (Southlake, Texas / Carroll),
Ryan O'Leary (Austin, Texas / Austin), and
Apollo Aceves (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. / Trabuco Hills) earned first, second, third, and seventh place respectively. Ho swam a new personal-best time of 4:01.77, placing him second in Trinity history in this event. Fender did however swim the 200 free in finals, winning the event with a time of 1:38.98. He was accompanied by
Sean Easley (Allen, Texas / Lovejoy),
William Walker (Houston, Texas / Westside), and
Nathan Perez (Alpharetta, Ga. / Johns Creek), who earned fifth, seventh, and eighth. Easley's time wound up a lifetime best of 1:43.14.
The divers completed their second day of competition with the 1-meter event on Saturday afternoon, with
Max Rolla-Mullis (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Pioneer) and
Ash Meckel (Austin, Texas / The Griffin School) competing for the Tigers. Rolla-Mullis picked up third place on both the 1-meter today and yesterday's 3-meter board, while Meckel came in fourth on both boards.
The men's 200 medley relay started off the night and produced one of many great performances, headed by
Jimmie Hester (Round Rock, Texas / Cedar Ridge),
Daniel Apostol (Billings, Mont. / Central Catholic), Perez, and
Trace Briones (San Antonio, Texas / Health Careers). Their winning time of 1:30.43 is already faster than Trinity's best time last season, and also was good for third on Trinity's all-time list.
Despite the fact that the 100 fly wasn't won by one of the Tigers, Perez, Walker, and
Nickolas Rotolo (Houston, Texas / Cairo American College) fought hard for points and got third, fifth, and sixth in the race. Perez's time of 49.83 is a best for him and puts him fifth in Trinity history. The Tigers weren't able to edge out a win in the 100 breast, but Apostol was just behind the winner with a time of 56.09. He was even faster in this morning's prelims and his time of 55.79 was not only his career best, but it is also the third best time in Trinity history.
Caleb del Rosario (Sudbury, Mass. / Lincoln-Sudbury),
John Key (El Paso, Texas / Franklin), and
Nathan Lumsdaine (Brentwood, Tenn. / Brentwood Academy) joined Apostol in the race, and Lumsdaine etched his name onto the top 10 list with the seventh-fastest time in Trinity history at 57.49. The final event of the evening was the 100 back, where Hester broke his own school record – set just last night – with a time of 48.11. Overall, this was another incredibly successful evening for the Trinity swimming & diving team.
Looking Forward:
Tomorrow marks the last day of the Trinity Tiger Invitational. It consists of the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, mile, and the 400 medley relay in finals. The Tiger men are set for one final night of action with their eyes on bringing home the victory.
