SMU Men's Swimming And Diving Wins 13th C-USA Championship Title
Feb. 28, 2009 HOUSTON, Texas (SMU)-SMU men's swimming and diving secured their 13th Conference Championship title, and fourth consecutive C-USA title on Saturday, February 28 at the CRWC Natatorium, breaking four meet and pool records on the fourth day and winning five events. Freshman Mitchell Thomson set the tone for the Mustangs early in the championship final of the 1650 free, swimming to a new pool record and NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 15:14.47, though finishing second. Senior Chris Ginder also swam a season-best time in a fourth place finish. In the 200 back, senior Pontus Renholm was busy setting his own record for the title win, breaking the C-USA meet record with a NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 1:43.50, a new season-best. Freshman James Shake earned a third place finish, shaving three seconds off his best season-time by touching in at 1:48.23. Junior Thomas Fadnes suprassed senior teammate Luka Vrtovec's C-USA meet record on the way to a title win in the 100 free final with a NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 43.42. Vrtovec placed third in this year's event, while freshman Robin Andreasson won the consolation title with a time of 44.63, a season-best. For the fourth time of the night, a Mustang broke a record; junior Ed Downes collected his second C-USA title and meet record in the 200 fly, swimming a NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 1:44.95, while freshman Blaz Korosec claimed silver also with a NCAA `B' cut time of 1:46.36.
To close out the night and secure the conference title, a 400 free relay team of Andreasson, Vrtovec, freshman Walter Rumans, and Fadnes broke the meet record with a blazing fast time of 2:54.97, An NCAA provisional qualifier. In the platform final, sophomore Matthew Culbertson scored a 313.30 to win the title, while freshman Richard Cornelius finished fourth. Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 42 |
