A record-breaking performance by senior Bart Wanot (Federal Way, Wash.) highlighted Seattle University’s participation in the third day of the 2015 Western Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships Friday at the Palo Alto College Natatorium.
Wanot became the first Seattle U swimmer to ever finish the 100 backstroke in less than 50 seconds, finishing sixth in the morning preliminaries with a school-record time of 49.86 seconds. He stayed consistent in the evening session, finishing sixth in the final for Second Team All-WAC honors with a time of 49.89 seconds.
Morgan Montemayor (Seattle, Wash.) posted the fourth-best time in program history during the 100 backstroke preliminaries, finishing 13th in 50.28 seconds. Montemayor would finish fourth in the “B” final and 12th overall with an evening time of 50.38 seconds. Sam Donohue (Portland, Ore.) and Lee Van Farowe (Edmonds, Wash.) posted the ninth and 10th best times in the event in school history with preliminary marks of 51.48 seconds and 51.70 seconds, respectively. In the “C” final, Van Farowe posted a time of 51.76 seconds, while Donohue finished in 52.73 seconds.
Tanner Schelling (Boise, Idaho) advanced to the “A” final of the 100 breaststroke by finishing seventh in the preliminaries in 55.25 seconds. Schelling finished in eighth place in the evening session in 55.36 seconds. Gabe Wheeler (Round Rock, Texas) finished 18th in the morning session with a time of 56.96 seconds, and then he posted a time of 56.36 seconds in the “C” final.
Wanot, Wheeler, Jack Baldoni (Applegate, Calif.), and Schelling combined for a sixth-place finish in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:19.91, fifth-best in program history. That increased Seattle U’s point total to 122, currently in seventh place. UNLV is on top with 476.5 points, just six points ahead of Air Force.
“There were a lot of personal best times tonight, and advancing two guys to the top final is important for our confidence,” Seattle U head coach Craig Nisgor said. “I am looking for similar results tomorrow so we can end this meet on a positive note.”
Baldoni just missed qualifying for the “A” final in the 100 butterfly, finishing ninth in the preliminaries in 48.68 seconds, the third-fastest time in program history. He finished second in the “B” final for a 10th-place finish overall after posting an evening time of 48.65 seconds.
Also in the 100 butterfly, Kyle Moline (Mercer Island, Wash.) finished 20th in the preliminaries in 49.81 seconds, followed by Alec Barnard (Everett, Wash.) in 22nd place in 50.07 seconds. Moline finished third in the “C” final in 49.85 seconds, followed by Barnard in 50.04 seconds. Montemayor finished in 28th place in the morning session with a time of 51.11 seconds.
Nick Connors (Richland, Wash.) advanced to the “B” final of the 200 freestyle after posting a preliminary time of 1:39.69. He posted a personal-best time of 1:39.30 in the evening session. Elsewhere in the 200 freestyle preliminaries, Chris Weinert (Gresham, Ore.) posted a time of 1:44.21, followed by Barnard in 1:44.37, John Fulmer (Kent, Wash.) in 1:44.49, and Julian Morales (Phoenix, Ariz.) in 1:48.05.
Connor Webb (Hood River, Ore.) qualified for the “B” final in the 400 individual medley after finishing 14th in the preliminaries with a time of 4:03.42. He moved into fourth place on the SU top times list with a mark of 4:02.02 in the evening session, finishing in 13th place overall. Damon Perry (Sammamish, Wash.) finished 17th in the morning session with a mark of 4:12.29, and then he posted a time of 4:13.20 in the “C” final.
The WAC Swimming and Diving Championships conclude Saturday, Feb. 28, starting at 10:30 a.m. local time with the preliminaries of the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, and 200 butterfly. The finals of those events as well as the 1650 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay will take place Saturday evening beginning at 6 p.m. Central time. Live results 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 session will be streamed online by the WAC Digital Network (www.wacsports.com/watch).