GEORGETOWN, Texas – The 25th-ranked Tiger men's swimming & diving team had a very successful first meet post-winter training, defeating their rivals Southwestern University with a score of 164-81. It was a great chance for them to race against a fellow competitor in their new conference.
Meet Recap
The meet began with a Tiger victory in the 200 medley relay, with
Apollo Aceves (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. / Trabuco Hills),
Jack Hester (Round Rock, Texas / Cedar Ridge),
Daniel Apostol (Billings, Mont. / Central Catholic), and
Sean Easley (Allen, Texas / Lovejoy) making up an all-freshmen relay. They each tried their hand at unusual strokes, and it paid off with a great cumulative time of 1:37.39. Next came the 1000 free, where
Theodore Ho (Sugar Land, Texas / Clements) won the event in a 1 v 1 against Southwestern by nearly a minute. The trio of
Luke Fender (Jackson, Miss. / St. Andrew's Episcopal),
Ryan O'Leary (Austin, Texas / Austin), and
Ian Truong (Tulsa, Okla. / Jenks) earned first, second, and fourth respectively in the 200 free, for a very strong showing in the event. Aceves continued his winning streak in the 100 back with a time of 54.36. Although the 100 breast wasn't a winning event for the Tigers,
John Key (El Paso, Texas / Franklin) came in a close second place, and made up for the second by handily winning the 200 breast later in the meet.
William Walker (Houston, Texas / Westside) swam and won both the 200 fly and 500 free, swimming the event against only other Southwestern swimmers and gaining valuable points for the Tigers. The sprint events had a strong showing from Trinity as well, with
Chase Hays (Austin, Texas / Anderson) and
Trace Briones (San Antonio, Texas / Health Careers) earning first and second in both the 50 and 100 free. Hester followed his relay win with a win in the 200 backstroke and 200 IM, and Apostol pivoted off of his victory to earn his own individual win in the 100 fly.
Sadly, due to a disqualification, Southwestern won the 200 free relay to end the meet, but Trinity's B and C relays still earned second and fourth place for some great points to conclude the meet. The Tigers were thrilled with their decisive victory against Southwestern and look forward to racing them again at conference.
Coach Speak
"We had a solid day at Southwestern today," admitted Head Coach
Cathleen Pruden. "Some of the men enjoyed experimenting with some off events which kept things light and fun. Daniel's fly speed was one of the most impressive discoveries. We're hoping to have a full, healthy roster next weekend when we're facing Division I opponents. For now, this was a great penultimate dual meet showing."
Looking Forward
Next weekend, the Tigers have their senior meet against the University of Incarnate Word. This will be a great chance to test their skills against a strong Division 1 team.
