ROCKWALL, Texas – The Southwestern University Pirates continued to chase history Saturday night on the final day of the 2014 SCAC Swimming and Diving Championships adding three more NCAA "B cut" times and six more school records.
As a team the Pirate men finished the Championships in second – their highest ever finish – as the women placed fourth. Overall Southwestern set 15 school records and earned four NCAA "B cuts" with three coming on the final day of the meet.
Shelby Hall captured his first SCAC medal with a first place finish in the 200-yard butterfly as teammate Evan Jones finished third. Both swimmers bested the school record and earned NCAA "B cuts" as it was Hall's time of 1:53.31 that edged Colorado College's Colin Chupik and Jones at the finish line.
Kyler Wood continued his stellar junior season with a NCAA "B cut" in the 200-yard breaststroke as he finished second behind UC-Santa Cruz's Casey Colella. Wood's time of 2:05.14 also broke his own school record in the event set just last year.
The Pirate men also earned four more top five finishes including a school record in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Simmon Belaineh, Hector Posadas, Mason Lundy and Wood finished second with a time of 3:07.62 to best the previous record by more than three seconds.
Tommy Frashier earned a runner-up finish in the 1650-yard freestyle while Ty Lapinski finished fourth in the 200-yard backstroke. Mason Lundy rounded out the top five finishes for the Southwestern men with his fifth place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke.
On the women's side the Pirates three school records also fell on Saturday's final day of the Championships led by the 400-yard freestyle relay team. Madison Doty, Blythe Nava, Sandy de Haas and Makaylee Frederick swam to a third place finish with a time of 3:37.36 to set the school record.
Also setting new Southwestern records were Kenly Gaynor and Alex Morris. Gaynor bested a three-year old record in the 200-yard butterfly with a fourth place finish and a time of 2:12.72 as Morris finished sixth in the 1650-yard freestyle.
Emily Haskell just missed a medal as she picked up a top five finish in the 200-yard breaststroke.
In the team standings Trinity swept both the men's and women's side as Southwestern finished second in the men's championships. UC-Santa Cruz finished third as Colorado College finished fourth and Centenary rounded out the top five.
Following Trinity on the women's side was Colorado College in second and UC-Santa Cruz ahead of Southwestern in third. Centenary followed the Pirates with Austin College rounding out the team standings.
The quartet of Pirates earning NCAA "B cuts" will now wait for March 3 for the release of the official NCAA National Championship Swimming and Diving lists. The swimmers will prep for the national championships March 19-22 in Indianapolis, Ind., at the IU Natatorium.