DANVILLE, Ky. – The Colonel Classic comes to a close this evening with the continued domination of the #25 Trinity men's swimming & diving team. The Tigers won with a score of 1002.5, with Milligan University's 967.5 points landing them in second. The two sessions today consisted of the typical day two and day three events of conference, as well as three relays.
Day 2 Overview
The morning began with a 200 medley relay, and the men kept up their streak by earning second place yet again.
Jack Hester (Round Rock, Texas / Cedar Ridge),
Daniel Apostol (Billings, Mont. / Central Catholic),
Nathan Perez (Alpharetta, Ga. / Johns Creek), and
Trace Briones (San Antonio, Texas / Health Careers) each put up some stellar swims to start off the meet, Hester going just 0.02 off his best time this season. Hester used the momentum of this split to win the 100 backstroke later in the session, beating the rest of the field by over four seconds with a time of 49.33. In the third session of the meet, he swam the 200 back, yet again winning the event by a wide margin, with teammate
John Key (El Paso, Texas / Franklin) coming in fourth.
The 400 IM was one of the most dominant events for the Trinity men in this meet.
Grant Bibza (Southlake, Texas / Carroll),
Ryan O'Leary (Austin, Texas / Austin), and
Theodore Ho (Sugar Land, Texas / Clements) touched in first, second, and third place respectively after a suspenseful event. In the 100 breast,
Caleb del Rosario (Sudbury, Mass. / Lincoln-Sudbury) fought hard for fourth place, with Key in fifth place just behind him. The 100 fly was another successful race for the men, with four top eight finishes by Perez,
Nickolas Rotolo (Houston, Texas / Cairo American College),
Chase Hays (Austin, Texas / Anderson), and
William Walker (Houston, Texas / Westside). Perez and Walker were joined by Ho and
Luke Fender (Jackson, Miss. / St. Andrew's Episcopal) for an electric 800 free relay, where they beat their own B relay to earn first and second place in the event. Fender had another great success in the 200 free, getting second place in the event, alongside teammate
Jason Allen (Springfield, Mo. / Springfield), who placed third. Fender also clinched his classic mile victory with a time of 15:54.51.
The Tigers have a deep roster of skilled 100 freestylers, as shown both in the individual race and in the 400 free relay. Hays fought hard for third in this event, followed by Rotolo in fourth and Briones in seventh. In the relay, the relay made up of Hays, Hester, Perez, and Fender got second place with a time of 3:07.68, just five seconds off of their time at Tiger Invite.
Nathan Lumsdaine (Brentwood, Tenn. / Brentwood Academy) also had an impressive performance in his 200 breast, edging a Centre swimmer for second place with a time of 2:08.31. The last but certainly not least individual event of the meet was the 200 fly, where Walker earned third place for the Tigers.
All in all, the Tigers had an outstanding meet and are feeling a new surge of confidence for conference. Although they won't be facing the same teams in competition, the team is always elated at a new chance to practice their conference lineups.
Coach Speak
"I am so impressed by this team," admitted Head Coach
Cathleen Pruden. "We had so many highs and overall we exceeded expectations. Our 800 free relays were exceptional. We're not going to settle, but we have a lot to be proud of at this point in the season.
Looking Forward
Next week, the Tigers travel to Georgetown to race Southwestern, a fellow SAA member. This will be the team's first meet after winter training, and one of the last meets before conference.
