GARLAND, Texas – The Trinity University men's swimming & diving team came up just short at the 2025 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday, finishing as the runner-up by less than 10 points.
The Tiger men scored 1,034 total points but came up just short of the 1,042 points scored by Colorado College in the meet. Southwestern University (TX) was third (435), Centenary College (LA) was fourth (292), McMurry University (TX) came in fifth (290), Austin College (TX) was sixth (253), University of the Ozarks (AR) was seventh (164), and University of St. Thomas (TX) was eighth (156).
Luke Fender (Jackson, Miss. / St. Andrew's Episcopal) earned the SCAC Men's Swimmer of the Meet award after several impressive performances this week at the Garland ISD Natatorium. In today's action, Fender opened the evening swimming session with a win in the 1,650 freestyle, turning in a record-breaking time of 15:37.60. Not only does that time break his own school record in the event by nearly 10 seconds, but he also breaks the SCAC Meet and SCAC Open records as well.
Fender was also a part of the winning 400 free relay team at the end of the night, teaming up with
Nathan Perez (Alpharetta, Ga. / Johns Creek),
William Walker (Houston, Texas / Westside), and
Trace Briones (San Antonio, Texas / Health Careers) for a time of 3:01.63 that is the third-fastest in school history. The Tigers also won the Consolation Finals of the 400 free relay with the third-fastest overall time of 3:06.83.
Chase Hays (Austin, Texas / Anderson),
Enzo Fiorese (McKinney, Texas / Heritage),
JC Holmes (Superior, Colo. / Centaurus), and
John Key (El Paso, Texas / Franklin) teamed up to earn the consolations win.
Prior to the finals session of swimming, the diving competition concluded with the men's 3-meter event.
Max Rolla-Mullis (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Pioneer) was the runner-up to earn All-SCAC recognition after scoring 391.80 points.
Ash Meckel (Austin, Texas / The Griffin School) was fifth (269.40) and
Andrew Ngo (Houston, Texas / Cypress Creek) finished sixth (238.75).
Following the 1,650,
John Fontenot (Austin, Texas / St. Andrew's),
Owen Flynn (Guthrie, Okla. / Heritage Hall), and
Daniel Itkins (Houston, Texas / The Village School) were all in the top six of the 200 backstroke. Fontenot led the Tiger group in fourth place with a time of 1:56.05, followed by Flynn's time of 1:56.64 that was good for fifth. Itkins came in sixth with his time of 1:57.11 – just over one second behind Fontenot.
The Tigers had six men's swimmers make the finals session in the 100 freestyle and Perez wound up as the SCAC Champion in the event with a time of 45.83 that moves him into a tie for ninth in school history. Briones finished fifth with a time of 46.18, while Fiorese was just behind his teammate at 46.28 in sixth place. Hays won the Consolation Final in 46.96, while Holmes was 10th (47.12) and
William Kitto IV (Prairieview, La. / Catholic High School) was 13th (47.69).
Key earned All-SCAC honors by finishing third in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:02.35.
Caleb Del Rosario (Sudbury, Mass. / Lincoln-Sudbury) was fourth in 2:03.24 to move up to fourth on Trinity's all-time list.
Ryan O'Leary (Austin, Texas / Austin) and
Grant Bibza (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) both finished in a tie for sixth after clocking identical times of 2:05.43. For Bibza, it marked a career-best time and solidifies his spot in seventh in school history.
The 200 butterfly featured three Trinity swimmers in the top four, led by Walker's time of 1:53.28 that earned him a runner-up finish in the race.
Nickolas Rotolo (Houston, Texas / Houston Christian) was third in 1:55.07, while
William Sikes (Pittsboro, N.C. / Woods Charter) finished fourth in 1:56.15 for the Tigers.
Coach Speak
"I've never been a part of such a close Championship meet," admitted Head Coach
Cathleen Pruden. "Everyone worked hard all season and all week so this loss stings, but we can hold our heads high and hang our caps on the many victories we experienced. Wrapping up our time in this conference with two relay victories was the way to go out!"
Up Next
Trinity will await the official announcements for the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships, which will be held March 19-22 in Greensboro, N.C.
