Seniors Jakub Jiracek (Nymburk, Czech Republic) and Chris Coley (Austin, Texas) each finished second in their individual events and helped the 400 medley relay team to a second place finish as Seattle University moved up to eighth place with 115 points after the second day of competition at the 2008 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships Thursday at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.
Jiracek earned his second All-America honor in as many nights, finishing second in the 400 individual medley in a time of 3:55.97, over three and a half seconds behind former Drury University teammate Kyrillo Fesenko. Bryson Chiu (Carmel, Ind.) also picked up some points for Seattle University, finishing fourth in the "B" final for a 12th place finish overall in 4:03.22.
After posting the best time in the morning preliminaries, Coley fell just 33/100ths of a second short of his second national title in three years in the 100 butterfly, finishing second in a time of 48.19 seconds. Yiwen Huang of Drury University was able to pull away from Coley in the final 25 yards to pick up the victory.
Drury proved to be Seattle’s nemesis again in the 400 medley relay, finishing ahead of Chiu, Jiracek, Coley, and Gordon Smith (Kennewick, Wash.) by over two seconds, even though SeattleU posted a time of 3:18.80, over two seconds faster than its time in the morning preliminaries which led all other teams.
Smith earned an honorable mention All-America award with an 11th place finish in the 200 freestyle, finishing third in the "B" final with a time of 1:40.38. The quartet of Chiu, Smith, Bryant Bevers (Federal Way, Wash.) and Doug Djang (Seattle, Wash.) finished 15th overall in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:24.65.
After 10 of 21 events, the Seattle University men’s team is just five points behind sixth place Limestone College, with fourth place Ouachita Baptist only 24 points ahead of the Redhawks. Drury University has taken a commanding 73-point lead in pursuit of another team title.
Seattle University swimmers will compete in six of Friday’s 11 events, led by Coley in the 200 butterfly and Djang and Jiracek in the 100 breaststroke. Smith will compete in the 500 freestyle, Chiu is scheduled to swim in the 100 backstroke, and the Redhawks will also field a quartet for the 800 freestyle relay. Also, Francesca Reale (Gig Harbor, Wash.) will complete her collegiate career by competing in the women’s 100 backstroke, seeded ninth going into the event.