Courtesy: Air Force Athletics
USAFA, Colo. – The Air Force Academy men’s swimming and diving team competed in a dual against Western Athletic Conference rival Wyoming Thursday evening, Dec. 3, inside the Cadet Natatorium. While team scores were not kept, AF won 13 of the 16 events contested on the night.
Three different Falcons finished first in two of their respective individual events, as juniors Isaac Gwin, Corey Shepard, and Adam Grimm all won twice. Gwin in the 100 back and 200 IM, Shepard in the 50 and 100 freestyles, and Grimm in the 500 and 1000 freestyles.
Another pair of returners looked strong in their season debuts, as junior Matthew Lattin and sophomore Tory Bartlett paced the field in the 100 fly and 200 breast, respectively. Meanwhile, a pair of freshman impressed in their first career meets, as Eric Wu took first in the 100 breast and Joseph Moore took gold in the 200 back.
On the diving board, senior Cole Armagost took first on the 1-meter and then second on the 3-meter to get a good start to his final Falcon campaign.
Finally, in the pair of medleys, AF once again led the field in both. In the 200-medley relay, the squad of Gwin, Lattin, Shepard, and Eric Wu, clocked in with a 1:27.58, while in the 400-free relay, Senior Erik Orr, junior Andrew Limpert, along with Lattin and Wu took first with a 3:05.80.
The Falcons are now off from competition until the New Year when they return to host Colorado Mesa and the Colorado School of Mines in a tri-meet, Friday, Jan. 8. Action inside the Cadet Natatorium is set to begin at 5 p.m. MT.
Courtesy: Wyoming Athletics
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Dec. 3, 2020) – The Cowboy swimming and diving squads got the 2020 season underway against Air Force on Thursday. The meet was scored as an exhibition between the two teams.
“Our men did a lot of nice things,” head coach Dave Denniston said. “Highlights would be Ryan Netzel and Austin Crump in the 200 freestyle. In the breaststroke, Mitchell Hovis went a season-best as did Aron Markow, plus some of our freshmen stepped up in the 200 butterfly in Luke Walker and Harry Tjaden had a good meet. Overall, we had a good meet and team was happy to get out and race.”
In the 200 medley relay, the team of Reilly Gilbert, Mitchell Hovis, Cameron Murphy and Grant Sloan touched the wall in 1:34.39. Following in a time of 1:34.88, Miller Browne, Aron Markow, Harry Tjaden and Kellen Chadderdon placed for the Cowboys.
In the 1000 freestyle, freshman Brandon Samaniego touched the wall in a time of 9:53.29 while Daniel Cumnock-Francois had a mark of 10:03.75.
Junior Ryan Netzel placed first in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:41.59. Fellow junior Austin Crump was third with a mark of 1:41.82 and freshman Jakob Borrman was fifth in a time of 1:47.68.
Hovis recorded a time of 55.93 in the 100 breaststroke for a third place finish followed by Sloan in a time of 58.59 to place fifth. Markow was right behind in sixth with a time of 58.72.
UW had a one, two, three place finish in the 200 butterfly. Freshman Luke Walker posted a time of 1:54.99 for a first place finish. Tjaden was second with a mark of 1:55.55 followed by sophomore Cameron Walker close behind in 1:55.99.
Sloan was the best finisher in the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.26, while Gilbert was seventh in a time of 21.91.
On the boards, the top finisher was junior Brendan Byrnes in the 1-meter with a second place finish with a score of 280.43. Freshman Juan Gonzalez was third with a career-best mark of 276.98 and senior Elijah Chan behind in fourth with a score of 246.30. Gonzalez followed that up with a first place finish in the 3-meter with a score of 299.55 followed by Byrnes in third with a mark of 268.43.
Crump took second in the 100 freestyle with a time of 46.46 and Sloan with a fourth place finish touching the wall in 47.61 and Chadderdon in 48.19 close behind.
Hovis followed up his performance in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 2:06.83 in the 200, while Caleb Worshek posted a time of 2:22.04.
In the 500 freestyle, Netzel completed his day with a time of 4:46.32 and Samaniego was third in a time of 4:49.23. The 100 butterfly had Crump touch the wall in 51.22 and Tjaden in 51.69.
The Cowgirls will be back in the pool tomorrow in a tri-meet with Air Force and Colorado State. It’s scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. at the USAF Academy in Colorado Springs.