Courtesy: SCAC Sports
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The Trinity University men completed their wire-to-wire run through the meet and took home top honors at the 2021 SCAC Men’s Swimming & Diving Championship, posting a meet record final score of 1,075.5 to cruise to the program’s second straight conference title Saturday afternoon at the Blossom Athletic Center.
Trinity finished 203.5 points out in front of second-place Southwestern University, the largest margin of victory since the Tigers posted a 215.5 point win at the 2014 championships. Colorado College finished in third with 504.5 points and Centenary College was fourth with 359 points. McMurry University secured its best-finish ever since joining the conference prior to the 2015 event and took home fifth place with 292 points. University of the Ozarks finished in sixth with 224 points and Austin College rounded out the standings with 164 points.
The title represents the 13th overall men’s swimming and diving championship for the Trinity men’s program.
Southwestern junior Keshaun Patel got the Pirates off to a good start in Saturday’s session, posting a victory in the 1,650 free in a time of 16:37.48. His teammate Matt Oevermann was second in 16:48.80 and Colorado College sophomore Will Barber placed third in 17:30.70.
Trinity’s Daniel Sarman became the first male swimmer in conference history to win the 200 back three straight years as the junior touched first at this year’s event in a time of 1:52.96. Teammate and sophomore Matt Lanzara was runner-up for the second consecutive year and finished in 1:52.98. Freshman Beau Player of Southwestern was third in a time of 1:55.51.
In one of the marquee races of the night, Trinity freshman Michael Kohl won his third race of the meet, beating a stacked field in the 100 free with a gold medal winning time of 46.07. Southwestern senior Keith Gill was denied his third straight title in the event and had to settle for second with a time of 46.27. Centenary junior Miguel Vasquez was third and touched in 46.39.
Trinity freshman Kendal Southwell claimed the first NCAA ‘B’ cut of the 2021 championships, posting a time of 2:04.72 to take top honors in the 200 breast. Southwestern senior Alek Argueta was denied his fourth straight title in the event and had to settle for second with a finish of 2:07.57. Trinity junior Spencer Steward was third with a finish of 2:07.99.
In the last individual race of the championship, Trinity sophomore Omar Shahatit picked up gold in the 200 fly with a finishing time of 1:52.48. Teammate and freshman John Fontenot was second in 1:56.04 and Colorado College junior Cade Thumann placed third in a time of 1:56.77.
With the meet well in hand, Trinity did not take its foot off the pedal and the team of freshman Nathan Early, senior Leon Faulk, Kohl and senior Shamzi Alkaff bought home gold in the 400 free relay in a Walker Pool record time of 3:05.70. Southwestern was second with a time of 3:06.76 and Colorado College was third in 3:11.03.
In post-meet ceremonies, Trinity’s Kohl was named the SCAC Swimmer-of-the-Meet, becoming just the second freshman in league history to earn the award. In addition to his victory in the 100 free earlier in the day, Kohl posted first-place swims on Thursday in the 500 free and on Friday in the 100 back to take home the honor.
Trinity senior Anthony Liva earned SCAC Diver-of-the-Meet honors. Liva, who repeated as the 3-meter champion on Friday, finished second to teammate Konstantine Partalas on the 1-meter board on Saturday. Partalas scored 509.05 on the low board to take top honors – the fifth-highest score in conference meet history. Liva’s 495.70 was good for second and Mac O’Brien of Colorado College was third in 416.95.
Liva’s combined point total on the two boards of 983.45 to Partalas’ 966.60 was the deciding factor in determining Diver-of-the-Meet.
The final standings were as follows:
1) Trinity University – 1,075.50
2) Southwestern University – 872
3) Colorado College – 504.50
4) Centenary College – 359
5) McMurry University – 292
6) University of the Ozarks – 224
7) Austin College – 164
As has been the case with most collegiate competition this academic year, the 2021 championships were modified due to COVID-19 protocol. The meet itself was condensed from its normal four-day schedule to a three-day event. Additionally, the meet was conducted as two separate events with the women’s teams swimming in the early afternoon and men’s teams competing later in the afternoon. All heats were swam as timed finals with no preliminaries.
