SMU Men, LSU Women Claim SMU Invitational Titles

by SwimSwam 0

November 24th, 2019 College, News

2019 SMU Invitational

Courtesy: LSU Athletics

DALLAS –  Two school records were broken on the final day of the SMU Invitational on the campus of SMU.  The LSU women’s swim team won with 976.5 points and the men’s team finished in second place with 755 points. In College Station at the Art Adamson Invitational, the LSU diving team competed on platform for the first time this season to close out competition.

1650-Yard Freestyle

Lexi Daniels claimed a second place finish after touching the wall in 16:37.17 and Kylie Bennett finished in 17th place with a time of 17:18.05. For the men, Isak Vikstrom swam the seventh fastest time in school history with a time of 15:33.17. Keagan Finley touched the wall in 16:08.38 to finish in 11th place.

200-Yard Backstroke

Cassie Kalisz set a new school record with a 1:54.76 to take the gold. Summer Stanfield and Ellie Baldwin placed fifth and sixth in the ‘A’ Final with times of 1:57.47 and 1:59.92. In the ‘B’ Final, Alyssa Helak finished in 12th place with a time of 2:00.58. For the men, Matt Klotz set a new pool record to win the event with a time of 1:43.52. Miguel Velasquez finished in 10th place with a time of 1:47.85 and David Wahlen finished in 17th place after touching the wall in 1:49.62.

100-Yard Freestyle

In the women’s ‘A’ Final, Katarina Milutinovich, Olivia Taylor, Grace Horton, and Natalie Kucsan placed third, fourth, fifth, and seventh with times of 50.25, 50.47, 50.58, and 50.73. In the ‘B’ Final, Emily Van De Wiele finished in 10th place with a time of 50.58 and Kit Hanley placed 16th with a time of 51.69. Maddie Clifton placed 23rd in the ‘C’ Final with a time of 52.53. For the men, Brooks Curry swam the sixth fastest time in school history, a 43.38, to win the event. Lewis Clough and Jack Jannasch also swam in the ‘A’ Final and finished in fourth and eighth place with times of 44.50 and 45.06. In the ‘C’ Final, Thomas Roark finished in 18th place with a time of 45.81 and Thomas Spradley placed 21st with a time of 46.10.

200-Yard Breaststroke

In the 200 Breast, Niamh Robinson set a new LSU record to win the event with a time of 2:08.88. Also in the ‘A’ Final, Olivia Paskulin and Allie McDaid finished in fourth and seventh place with times of 2:17.31 and 2:20.98. In the ‘B’ Final, Emily Pye swam a 2:21.94 to finish in 15th place. Ellen Pack touched the wall in 2:22.78 to place 18th in the ‘C’ Final. In the ‘D’ Final, Isabella Buttaci finished in 25th place with a time of 2:26.71. For the men, Luca Pfyffer finished in seventh place in the ‘A’ Final with a time of 1:58.98. In the ‘B’ Final, Cameron Karkoska and Jeff Snoddy finished in 11th and 14th place with times of 2:01.66 and 2:04.82.

200-Yard Butterfly

For the women, Helen Grossman, Nicole Rozier, and Jolee Liles finished second, sixth, and seventh in the ‘A’ Final with times of 1:59.29, 2:01.56, and 2:04.39. For the men, Ben Hopper finished in fifth place with a time of 1:49.15 and David Boylan placed seventh place with a time of 1:49.25. Julian Norman finished in 18th place with a time of 1:51.38.

400-Yard Freestyle Relay

The women’s team of Milutinovich, Taylor, Grossman, and Horton touched the wall in 3:20.01 to take the top spot. The men’s team of Curry, Clough, Jannasch, and Klotz swam a 2:57.49 to finish in third place.

Platform Diving

Manny Vazquez Bas took the top spot on the men’s side with a score of 356.50. Dakota Hurbis finished in fourth place with a score of 264.50. On the women’s side, Anne Tuxen came in fourth place with a score of 250.85, Hayley Montague finished in fifth place with a 247.90, and Aimee Wilson came in seventh place with a 230.70. This was the first platform competition of the season for the Tigers.

HEAD SWIM COACH DAVE GEYER

“It was a great end to our three-day meet. Heading into the meet there were certainly thoughts of school records being broken and we got to see two of them today. With that being said, we want that to be an expectation for our program, not an anomaly.”

“Moving forward we know there is a good bit of work to do. Focusing on the details and staying disciplined in the second half of the season will ultimately bring us the team success we are looking for.”

HEAD DIVING COACH DOUG SHAFFER

“This was a good final day to round out our experience in College Station. At this point of the season we have the least amount of experience on platform so for Anne, Hayley, Aimee, and Manny to earn their Zone qualifying scores is fantastic. I am proud of Manny for taking the gold but I am proud of our whole body of work and I am optimistic moving forward.”

Courtesy: SMU Athletics

The SMU men’s swimming and diving team won the first SMU Invitational held at the Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center and Barr-McMillion Natatorium. The Mustangs led from start to finish throughout the three-day event, closing each night atop the leaderboard.

In all, three individuals posted four NCAA B standards in the pool, while a pair of divers accounted for five total NCAA Zone qualifying scores. On the final night of competition, the Mustangs’ 400-yard freestyle relay broke the pool record.

SMU picked up an individual win on night three from junior Caleb Rhodenbaugh, who posted two NCAA B cuts during the three-day event. Rhodenbaugh added a 200 breast cut to his 100 performance from night two, and led swimmers into the evening finals as the top seed. There, his performance not only stayed under the standard, but lowered his career-mark as he covered the distance in 1:55.60 for a commanding victory.

The time places Rhodenbaugh third on SMU’s all-time top performer list. He also makes this list with his 100 time from night two of 54.10, coming in at seventh.

The second victory of the night for the Ponies came from the 400 free relay team of Daniel ForndalRalph KooJustin Baker and Riley Hill that broke the facility record and came away with the win out of lane one at 2:56.12.

Forndal and Matan Segal picked up runner-up honors in their respective individual events tonight, with Forndal posting an NCAA B standard time of his own in the 100-yard freestyle. Forndal’s 43.79 not only came in under the NCAA standard, but it was also a career best and under the pool record coming into the event. The time also makes him the ninth fastest performer all-time at SMU in the event.

Segal’s second place finish in the 200 back was a 1:46.10 that led a total of four Mustangs in the Championship Final. Jack Easton (5th), Cole Junker (7th) and Stephen Cheng (8th) also scored in the 200 back’s A Final.

Reid Anderson rounded out the podium performances for the Mustangs, finishing third in the final individual event, the 200-yard butterfly. Anderson was just .03 seconds off the second-place time, clocking a finals time of 1:47.24, a lifetime best.

The Mustang divers took on platform on the final day of competition. Peter Smithson led the way with his third, and final, NCAA Zone qualifying score of the season. The freshman posted a 350.10 for the top spot, while Parker Hardigree and Dominic Carollo followed in second and third, respectively.

SMU will host a time trial event Sunday morning at 10 a.m. and is back in action for dual-meet competition Jan. 17 when West Virginia comes to Dallas. Mustang divers travel to the Tennessee Diving Invite Jan. 3-5.

Team Standings
SMU 1,025.5
LSU 755
Missouri State 659.5
TCU 599
UIW 566

0
Leave a Reply

Subscribe
Notify of

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments