DANVILLE, Ky. – The Trinity University men's swimming & diving team kicked off their first SAA conference championship with a bang today. The men are in second after the first session, by just under 40 points, but are prepared to make up this deficit with a full slate of events tomorrow.
Meet Recap:
The session kicked off with the 200 medley relay, which Trinity won in record-setting fashion. The Tiger men set the scene for an incredible meet by immediately smashing the school record with a time of 1:28.57.
Jack Hester (Round Rock, Texas / Cedar Ridge) led it off with a best time in his 50 back by almost a half second at 22.15.
Daniel Apostol (Billings, Mont. / Central Catholic) followed him with his best relay split of the year by nearly a second.
Nathan Perez (Alpharetta, Ga. / Johns Creek) additionally went his best 50 fly split of the season, and
Trace Briones (San Antonio, Texas / Health Careers) tied his personal best. Their cumulative time is also under the NCAA B cut to give them a shot at qualifying for nationals.
The second relay of the evening was the 800 free relay, which also resulted in a Trinity victory with a time of 6:44.28. The relay was made up of Perez,
William Walker (Houston, Texas / Westside),
Theodore Ho (Sugar Land, Texas / Clements), and
Luke Fender (Jackson, Miss. / St. Andrew's Episcopal). All four of Tiger men worked together for an excellent swim and their best cumulative time of the year. Fender had the fastest split of the group with a personal best time of 1:38.25.
Men's diving also began today on the 1-meter board. All three men had stellar performances, with
Ash Meckel (Austin, Texas / The Griffin School) earning 237.85 in the morning, and
Wiley Sikes (Pittsboro, N.C. / Northwood) getting 160.45 points, for 11th and 12th place respectively.
Max Rolla-Mullis (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Pioneer) made finals, earning 8th place for the day, with 308.80 points.
Looking Forward:
Tomorrow is day two of the SAA Championships, which will consist of the 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, and 200 free relay. The Tigers will look to keep up their first day momentum and ride into first place by the end of the evening finals session.
