SMU Men Set 200 Medley Relay School Record, Swim 800 Free Relay ‘A’ Cut To Open Invite

2024 SMU Invite

• November 20-23, 2024
• Robson & Lindley Aquatic Center — Dallas, TX
• 25 Yards (SCY)
• Participating Teams: SMU, Hawaii, Drury, Stanford (men only), Miami-FL (women only), BYU (diving only), UNC (diving only), Wyoming (diving only) North Texas (diving only)
• Day 1 Full Results

The first day of the 2024 Invite saw only the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays take to the blocks. Despite there being only two events, there was no shortage of excitement, particularly for the Mustang men.

In the opening 200 medley relay, the quartet of Jack Berube (21.58), Joe Rusnock (23.15), Russell Exum (20.50), and Sage Sungail (19.12) stopped the clock at 1:24.35, setting a new school record. They finished second in the race, behind Stanford’s 1:23.34 with a squad of Aaron Sequeira (21.16), Ron Polonsky (23.44), Andrei Minakov (20.01), and Rafael Gu (18.83).

The Mustangs dominated the men’s 800 freestyle, just missing setting a second school record as they clocked an NCAA ‘A’ cut time of 6:14.62. Jack Hoagland, Chris Mykkanen, Jack Forrest, and Colin Feehery set the current school record at 6:14.35 as they placed 15th at the 2024 NCAA Championships. This squad was just .27 seconds from that mark as Hoagland, Mykkanen, and Forrest all returned.

At the invite, Hoagland led off for the Mustangs in 1:34.18. Next, Forrest was right on his split from 2204 NCAAs with a 1:33.65 and Mykkanen shaved a few hundredths off his split from March in 1:33.88. Finally, Ward Lockhart, the newcomer to the relay, was much faster than the anchor split from NCAAs, bringing the quartet home in 1:32.91. It’s a big swim from Lockhart, who’s lifetime best in the individual 200 freestyle stands at 1:35.46 from the 2022 Sunshine State Conference Championships.

SMU won the race by 6.69 seconds ahead of their new-ACC rivals, Stanford. Henry McFadden (1:31.75), Rick Mihm (1:36.76), Gibson Holmes (1:35.80), and Liam Custer (1:37.00), who finished second in 6:21.31.

Miami-FL won the women’s 200 medley relay, coming within a second of their 1:38.50 school record. Leah Treglia led off for the Hurricanes in 24.74, giving them the lead from the opening leg. The quartet led the entire race, as Emma Sundstrand (27.43), Savannah Barr (24.27), and Adrianna Cera (22.86) followed Treglia to win the race in 1:39.30,

There was a close race for second behind them, as SMU’s Maddy Parker anchored the Mustangs in 21.95 and pulled them ahead of the University of Hawaii, 1:39.77 to 1:39.82.

SMU climbed one step higher on the women’s 800 freestyle relay podium, giving the Mustangs the 800 freestyle relay sweep. Summer Osborne (1:47.33), Madeleine Herbert (1:47.71), Teia Salvino (1:46.42), and Mira Szimcsak (1:46.36) collected the win, as Szimcsak swam away from Miami’s anchor to give the Mustangs some breathing room.

Miami’s team of Marissa Inouye (1:46.72), Ashlyn Massey (1:47.95), Savannah Barr (1:47.00), and Adrianna Cera (1:46.77) crushed their school record, swimming 7:08.44 to bring the Hurricanes’ standard sub-7:11 for the first time in school history.

Team Scores Thru Day 1

Women

1. Miami-FL — 126
2. Hawaii — 114
3. Drury — 112
4. SMU — 98

Men

1. Stanford — 134
2. SMU — 128
3. Drury — 112
4. Hawaii — 98