The Seattle University men’s swim team earned several top-five finishes as it faced Air Force and North Dakota for the second straight day Saturday at the U.S. Air Force Academy Natatorium.
Freshman Tanner Schelling (Boise, Idaho) got off to a strong start in anchoring the 200 medley relay, posting the fastest 50 freestyle split at 20.35 seconds in helping Bart Wanot (Federal Way, Wash.), Gabe Wheeler (Round Rock, Texas), and Kyle Moline (Mercer Island, Wash.) to a fourth place finish in 1:35.48. After a fourth-place finish in the 100 freestyle in 47.32 seconds, Schelling posted the third-fastest time in the 100 breaststroke at 58.29 seconds.
Wanot earned two podium finishes during the day, first touching the wall third in the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.53 seconds. Later in the meet, Wanot finished second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 52.74 seconds, followed by Nick Connors (Richland, Wash.) with the fifth-fastest time in the event in 55.47 seconds. Connors also finished fourth in the 1000 freestyle in 10:20.40.
Wrapping up the meet and the weekend, Tomas Mendez-Beck (Hillsboro, Ore.), Nicolas Morrell (Bend, Ore.), Douglas Pizac (Salt Lake City, Utah), and Michael Cox (Maple Valley, Wash.) posted the third-fastest time in the 400 freestyle relay at 3:10.94. Earlier in the day, Morrell earned the fifth-fastest time in the 500 freestyle at 4:56.56.
As a team, Seattle U lost to both Air Force (137-79) and North Dakota (129-89). Air Force defeated North Dakota to sweep the meet, 116-100.
"We missed several opportunities to score points over the past two days," Seattle U head coach Craig Nisgor said. "We still have several things to work on over the next few weeks, as it will be the details that make a difference for us against our conference rivals."
Seattle University will face Simon Fraser next Saturday, Jan. 25, at 1 p.m. at the Connolly Center Pool, with Senior Day ceremonies taking place before the start of the meet.