Post-season swimming is going strong at the Rockwall ISD Aquatic Center where Day One of the CSCAA Collegiate Classic presented by Speedo gave us several season-best performances. (Live results available here.)
On Monday, the first day of the three-day meet ended with wins from BYU, Rice, Grand Canyon, and Incarnate Word on the women’s side; Grand Canyon dominated on the men’s side.
The Cougars (Lauren Taylor, Alora Foliaki, Alexandria Sorensen, and Ashlee Spindler) won the women’s 200 medley relay in 1:35.26, just off their time from the MPSF Championships. Rice (Taylor Armstrong, Faith Hirschi, Cora McKenzie, and Jaecey Parham) finished second, .17 ahead of Grand Canyon (Jade Howard, Marina Fonseca, Angelina Mikish, and Celine Schoemans).
The Lopes won the men’s contest in 1:20.09 behind Illya Glazunov, Mazen El Kamash, Alexandr Dmitriyenko, and Jacob Lambros. Incarnate Word (Alex Brouwer, Mehdi El Hazzaz, Jorge Escarcega, and Kaulen Applin) came in second; BYU (Rainer Ng, Levi Jensen, Hayden Palmer, and Evan Berger) placed third.
Rice went 1-2 in the women’s 500 when senior Erin Flanigan (4:48.59) outpaced sophomore Anniina Ala-Seppala (4:53.05) for the win. Mollie McNeel of Western Kentucky took third in 4:53.72. Connor Hennessy of Incarnate Word was just off his season-best when he won the men’s race in 4:25.15. Luis Ventura of BYU finished second with 4:29.73, while Daniel McGee of Western Kentucky rounded out the podium in 4:34.25.
Grand Canyon sophomore Hannah Kastigar won the 200 IM with a season-best 1:58.36, lowering her own school record that she had previously set at the WAC Championships in February. Incarnate Word freshman Alona Kyselova was second in 2:00.58, just ahead of Kastigar’s teammate Iryna Glavnyk (2:01.67). In the men’s IM, Grand Canyon junior Iegor Lytvenok won a tight battle over Incarnate Word sophomore David Moore, 1:47.13 to 1:47.75. BYU’s Palmer went 1:50.17 for third.
Lana Nguyen of Incarnate Word ended her senior year with a career-best 22.86 to win the 50 free. She was .19 off the UIW record but .09 faster than her previous PB. Campbell freshman Michelle Case touched out Grand Canyon freshman Howard, 24.01 to 24.04, for second. The Lopes swept the podium in the men’s race, finishing 1-2-3 with Glazunov (19.97), Lambros (20.28), and El Kamash (20.38).
In the women’s 400 medley relay, Grand Canyon took first place with 3:41.55, featuring Glavnyk, Vangelina Draganova, Kastigar, and Schoemans. Incarnate Word (Abby Meyer, Daria Makieieva, Kyselova, and Nguyen) touched second in 3:48.12. BYU (Haley Bertoldo, Anna Dahl, Sorensen, and Taylor) got to the wall .03 ahead of Campbell (Lily Tang, Carly Bowles, Caroline Clark, and Case) for third in 3:49.67.
Grand Canyon won the men’s medley relay, as well, with Lytvenok, Youssef El Kamash, Glazunov, and Mazen El Kamash coming in at 3:14.03. BYU (Ng, Jensen, Palmer, and Berger) beat out Western Kentucky (Chris Goodman, TJ Bland, John Smith, and Brennan Elsas), 3:20.15 to 3:20.19, for second, while Incarnate Word (Aaron Moran, Andrey Chechelnytskyi, Escarcega, and El Hazzaz) trailed in 3:20.90.
Steve,
Thank you for the detailed response!
It is a DI invite that requires DI b cuts to make qualify as an individual and softer relay cuts to get other swimmers to the meet as it tries to grow. Intention is for it to become swimming’s answer to basketball’s NIT, CBI, and CIT tournament giving schools and individual an opportunity for similar post season competition as they develop to the NCAA Championship level.
I am unfamiliar with this meet. Is it just an open invite?
Wow, where are all the teams at?