CHICAGO – The Trinity University men's swim and dive team began their performances today at the D3 Shootout meet at the University of Chicago. Ending the first session, the men are in fourth place out of ten top-notch division 3 teams competing.
It is important to note that, for the individual events of this meet, one Trinity swimmer can only score in the top 10 of an event, and the other can only score in spots 11-20 based on the way this meet is structured.
"After day one we are in a very tight team race with plenty of work still left to do tomorrow," revealed Head Coach
Cathleen Pruden. "The first-years really shined tonight, with a best time from Theo in the 200 free and a runner up performance in the 100 back from Jack. Some of our best racing is still ahead of us tomorrow!"
The day started off strong with the 200 medley relay. The Trinity men placed ninth in this relay, with
Jack Hester (Round Rock, Texas / Cedar Ridge) leading off in backstroke. His time of 22.75 is a lifetime best, and
Daniel Apostol (Billings, Mont. / Central Catholic) followed it up with a 25.52 50 breaststroke. Their combined time at the 100 mark is over half a second faster than the first 100 of the men's 200 medley relay last season, so the team is in a great place right now.
Nate Perez (Alpharetta, Ga. / Johns Creek) and
Will Walker (Houston, Texas / Westside) ended the relay with the butterfly and freestyle legs for a final time of 1:33.01.
John Key (El Paso, Texas / Franklin) and
Grant Bibza (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) swam the 400 IM, coming in fourth and fourteenth respectively. Both put up impressive performances, and their racing spirit in the pool was contagious.
Luke Fender (Jackson, Miss. / St. Andrew's Episcopal) and
Theodore Ho (Sugar Land, Texas / Clements) had the 200 freestyle up next, scoring points for earning third and fourteenth place. Ho went a lifetime best in this race, with a time of 1:42.44! Apostol and Hester each then swam the 50 freestyle. Apostol came in a tie for sixth, with Hester getting fifteenth with a lifetime best of 21.49.
Next came the divers on the 1-meter, which came just before the 400 individual medley relay, where each participant swims a 100 IM. The men dove first, with
Max Rolla-Mullis (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Pioneer) coming in seventh place. Diving Coach
Tommy Law was very proud of his performance today.
In the 400 individual medley relay, The Tigers came in third, with Key, Bibza,
Kaya Alvegaard-Struble, and
Kaitlyn Phan beating the team's time last year by over six seconds. Key was just barely off his own school record in the 100 IM leading off this race.
After diving came the 200 butterfly, where Perez and Walker earned tenth and fifteenth respectively. Hester and Bibza then competed in the 100 backstroke, receiving second and nineteenth. Bibza got a new lifetime best in this event, with a time of 54.88, and Hester's time lands him fifth in Trinity history in this event. Apostol and Key raced in the 100 breaststroke next, earning third and fifteenth. Apostol's time of 56.40 lands him fifth on the all-time Trinity leaderboard.
The first day of the meet ended with the 800 freestyle relay. The men's relay consisted of Walker, Ho, Perez, and Fender, and they earned sixth place with a time of 6:54.93. Both Ho and Fender were just on their 200 freestyle times from earlier in the day, showing some impressive consistency.
