SMU Invitational: Stanford Men, Arkansas Women Wrap Up Titles
Stanford’s men’s team and the Arkansas women wrapped up team titles at the SMU Invitational on Saturday in Dallas.
Stanford did it with four individual wins and a victory in the concluding relay.
Ethan Ekk set a pool record in the 1,650 freestyle with a time of 14:43.14. He had to outkick teammate Liam Custer to do so, the senior going 14:44.51. Both are well under the NCAA cut, as was SMU’s Mark Van Eybergen in 15:00.15 and Utah’s Nick Chirafisi in 15:00.54.
SMU Invitational Men’s Scores
- Stanford, 972
- SMU, 833.5
- Utah, 717
- Drury, 429.5
- Air Force, 366.5
- Hawai’i, 334.5
SMU Invitational Women’s Scores
- Arkansas, 1047
- Hawai’i, 690.5
- Utah, 629.5
- SMU, 618
- Drury, 354
- North Texas, 294
The Cardinal’s Omar Wiener won the 200 individual medley in 1:43.79. That’s an NCAA Cut, as is the time of 1:43.89 that his teammate Jason Zhao roared to in winning the B final. It was the second-fastest swim of the night, though Utah’s Finn Winkler’s 1:43.93 also got under the NCAA standard. Kristaps Mikelsons of SMU just missed the time in 1:44.16, .03 off.
Andres Dupont Cabrera won a quick 100 free in 42.24. His teammate Rafael Gu was third in 42.41. In between was the 42.26 of Hawaii’s Finn Brophy. All three are NCAA A cuts. Stanford have four of the top six, all in 42s. No surprise then that the Cardinal set a pool record and NCAA time of 2:48.01 to win. Dupont Cabrera, Ethan Harrington, Jonathan Tan and Gu were the quartet, Tan splitting 41.41 and Gu 41.53.
Henry McFadden added a win in the 200 fly by going 1:42.27 for an NCAA cut. Utah followed in second and third, with Evan VanBrocklin going 1:43.60 and Jakub Walter to 1:43.96, the former an NCAA qualifying time.
The only non-Stanford win was via Jack Berube, who set the SMU program record in the 200 back with a time of 1:40.15. Stanford’s Josh Zuchowski was second in 1:40.98. Both are NCAA times. Berube’s teammate Andy Baklanov set an NCAA time in prelims at 1:41.02. Ekk had the fastest time in prelims of 1:40.02 before passing on finals.
SMU’s 400 free relay reached NCAAs, finishing second in 2:48.72, six tenths under the auto standard.
Sydney Craft authored a heck of a double. The Arkansas senior set the pool record in the 1,650 free with a time of 16:29.03. She was 15 seconds ahead of the field, though still four seconds shy of the NCAA standard. She came back to finished second in the 200 fly in 1:57.89, just outside the NCAA cut.
Harriet Rogers won the 100 free in 47.96 for Arkansas. That’s an NCAA cut, as is Maddy Parker’s runner-up time of 48.23 for the hosts. Arkansas’s Delaney Harrison was third in 48.76, .04 up on Holly Nelson of Hawaii. That helped the Razorbacks set a pool record in the 400 free relay, Rogers, Tammy Greenwood, Craft and Harrison going 3:15.25, nearly two seconds ahead of SMU.
Hawaii junior Zofia Tyminska picked up her third win of the meet, going 1:58.39 to win the 200 IM. Utah’s Ella Derby finished second in 1:59.91.
SMU’s AnneMarie Vlaic won the 200 fly in 1:56.40. That’s an NCAA cut, and it moves her to second in program history. Teammate Jimena Leal won the 200 back in 1:55.27, edging Greenwood by .15 seconds in a thrilling race.
