Wyoming set multiple school records and won three events while finishing second as a team in the WAC Championship this past weekend in Pal Alto, California.
The Cowboys scored 702 points which put them safely in second place as the third-place team, Air Force, only managed 625 points.
“I was proud of the way our guys swam and we will have some guys swimming in March,” UW head coach Tom Johnson said. “We had a number of school records and top-ten times and I thought it was a really good meet.”
UNLV won the championship scoring 767 points.
Sophomore George Eglesfield highlighted the weekend with his first place, record-setting finish in the 200-yard butterfly. He raced to school record time of 1:45.22. Sophomore teammate Ryan Nelson touched third in the same event with, what would have also been, a record time of 1:46.26.
The 100-yard freestyle saw a school record and multiple noteworthy Wyoming times. The top school honor went to senior Adam Kalms with a time of 43.05, good enough for a second place finish. Senior Ethan Griffel was not far behind with a time of 44.91 and behind him was senior Jeff Frey who recorded a time of 44.95.
Multiple top-ten finishes headlined the 200-yard backstroke for the Cowboys. Senior Jayce Calhoon touched with a school record time of 1:44.48 which was good enough for a third place finish. Right behind him was sophomore teammate Brendan Costello who finished fourth with a time of 1:47.49. Finishing seventh was Cowboy sophomore Matt Cook who clocked in at 1:48.03. Rounding out, finishing tenth was freshman Patt Jones with a time of 1:47.98.
Another school record went down as the 400-yard freestyle relay composed of Kalms, Griffel, sophomore Bryce carter and Frey clocked in at 2:55.84 which was good enough for a third place finish.
In the 200-yard breaststroke sophomore Kyle Scalise finished third with a time of 1:58.36. Junior teammate Michael McCormick placed seventh clocking in with a time of 2:01.25.
Switching over to the diving portion saw senor Wyoming diver Derek Campbell get voted best diver of the Championship for his performance in the one and three meter springboard and the platform. He won the three meter, placed second in the platform and fifth in the one meter.
Wyoming swimmers, men and women, will now wait and see if their times qualified them for the NCAA Championships held next month. The men’s championship will be held in Austin, Texas while the women’s will be in Minneapolis, Minnesota. All the divers qualified for Zone “E” Championships which will be held on the 13th of this month in Colorado Springs.
