The Seattle University men’s swim team enjoyed another day of fast performances as the Husky Invitational continued Saturday at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.
In the 200 medley relay, the quartet of Bart Wanot (Federal Way, Wash.), Gabe Wheeler (Round Rock, Texas), Tomas Mendez-Beck (Hillsboro, Ore.), and Tanner Schelling (Boise, Idaho) finished in third place with a time of 1:34.08. Damon Perry (Sammamish, Wash.) finished in 23rd place overall in the 400 individual medley, following a morning performance of 4:16.92 with a time of 4:19.62 in the evening finals.
Mendez-Beck finished in fourth place in the “A” final of the 100 butterfly with a time of 49.95, one-tenth of a second faster than the mark he posted in the preliminaries. Alec Barnard (Everett, Wash.) remained consistent throughout the day, following up a preliminary time of 50.88 seconds with a mark of 50.84 seconds in the “A” final to finish in seventh place. Michael Cox (Maple Valley, Wash.) finished in 21st place overall with an evening time of 52.63 seconds after a mark of 52.12 in the morning session.
Schelling qualified for the “A” final in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:42.29 in the morning session, and then he finished sixth in the evening race with a mark of 1:43.99. Barnard also earned a second swim after posting a morning time of 1:44.80, finishing in 16th place overall after completing the “B” final in 1:47.20. Sascha Stipe (Seattle, Wash.) finished in 19th place overall after posting a time of 1:45.30 in the “C” final, qualifying for that race with a mark of 1:44.96 in the morning.
Schelling also posted the fifth-fastest time in program history in the 100 breaststroke, cutting almost two seconds off his personal best with a time of 56.77 seconds, good enough for sixth place in the “A” final. Wheeler finished in seventh place in the same race with his own personal best mark of 57.40 seconds, good enough for sixth place on the Redhawk all-time list in that event. Connor Webb (Hood River, Ore.) qualified for the “C” final with a morning time of 1:00.12, and followed that with an evening mark of 59.87 seconds to finish in 20th place overall.
Lee Van Farowe (Edmonds, Wash.) competed in the “C” final of the 100 backstroke after posting a morning time of 53.73 seconds, and then he finished in 24th place overall after an evening mark of 54.35 seconds. Wanot was 17th in the morning preliminaries with a time of 53.27 seconds, but just as in the 100 butterfly after he finished in 12th place in the morning with a preliminary time of 51.48 seconds, he chose not to compete in the evening session.
“I am happy with how the team is performing so far this weekend,” Seattle U head coach Craig Nisgor said. “Tanner and Gabe really impressed me with their swims in the 100 breaststroke, both in the morning prelims and in the evening finals. I am looking forward to one more day of similar performances.”
The Seattle University men’s swim team will conclude its participation in the Husky Invitational Sunday, Dec. 8, with representation in the 1650 freestyle, the 200 backstroke, the 100 freestyle, the 200 breaststroke, the 200 butterfly, and the 400 freestyle relay. The morning session is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m., with the evening finals set to start at 5 p.m.