The Seattle University men’s swim team posted fast swims as the 2015 Western Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships continued Thursday at the Palo Alto College Natatorium.
Nick Connors (Richland, Wash.) posted the second-fastest time in school history in the preliminaries of the 500 freestyle, qualifying for the “B” final with a morning time of 4:31.48. He finished fourth in the “B” final with a time of 4:30.90, just 6/100ths of a second off the school record. Also in the event, Kyle Moline (Mercer Island, Wash.) finished in 18th place in the morning at 4:36.97, and John Fulmer (Kent, Wash.) finished in 24th place at 4:48.23.
In the men’s 200 individual medley, Gabe Wheeler (Round Rock, Texas) qualified for the “C” final after posting a preliminary time of 1:53.97, and then finished sixth in the evening race in 1:53.83. Connor Webb (Hood River, Ore.) finished 24th in the morning preliminaries at 1:54.79, 10th on the school’s top times list, while Lee Van Farowe (Edmonds, Wash.) finished in 26th place at 1:56.63, and Sam Donohue (Portland, Ore.) ended up in 28th place in 1:57.79.
Tanner Schelling (Boise, Idaho) qualified for the “C” final in the 50 freestyle with a preliminary time of 20.71 seconds, and then he finished second in the evening race with a then-personal best time of 20.53 seconds. Also in the 50 freestyle preliminaries, Bart Wanot (Federal Way, Wash.) posted a time of 21.04 seconds, followed by Jack Baldoni (Applegate, Calif.) in 21.47 seconds and Julian Morales (Phoenix, Ariz.) in 21.64 seconds.
The team of Schelling, Wanot, Baldoni, and Moline capped the evening by finishing seventh in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:22.72, sixth-best in program history. Schelling’s leadoff time of 20.47 seconds is now the second-fastest 50 freestyle mark in program history.
After two days, the Redhawk men are in seventh place with 55 points. Air Force leads the team standings with 276.5 points, followed by Wyoming with 258 points.
The WAC Swimming and Diving Championships continue Friday, Feb. 27, starting at 10:30 a.m. local time with the preliminaries of the 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, and 100 backstroke. The finals of those events as well as the 400 medley relay will take place Friday evening beginning at 6 p.m. Central time. Live results for the entire meet are available through a link on the schedule pages for both men’s and women’s swimming on GoSeattleU.com. Live video of the finals sessions will be streamed online by the WAC Digital Network (www.wacsports.com/watch).