Just after picking up the No. 25 ranking in the nation, the Mustangs defeated the No. 24 Texas A&M Aggies.
The SMU men’s swim and dive team won nine events and earned multiple individual first-place awards on its way to defeating the men from No. 24 Texas A&M 143-98 on Friday night. The No. 25 ranked Mustangs traveled to College Station to compete in a rivalry that dates back to 1934.
The Mustangs took the lead from the start, placing first in the 400-yard medley relay. Ian Clark, Alex Hetland, Justin Smith and Thomas Fadnes swam the relay in 3:14.33, a season-best time for SMU. Clark, a senior, went on to earn two individual first-place finishes in both the 200 individual medley and the 200 backstroke. He posted a season-best time in the individual medley before notching a career-best time of 1:45.52 in the backstroke.
Also earning two individual first-place finishes was freshman Maverick Smalley. In the 200 freestyle, he swam a career-best time of 1:39.48. In the 500 freestyle, Smalley hit the wall at 4:30.14, another career best.
Sophomore Chris Ginder narrowly missed his career-best time in the 500 freestyle, earning sixth. Earlier in the meet, Ginder swam a career-best time of 9:31.30 for fourth place in the 1000-yard freestyle. Teammate Michael Dmitriev won the 1000 free with a season-best time of 9:17.33.
The sprinters were also successful as Luka Vrotvec stopped the clock at 20.05 seconds when he won the 50-yard freestyle event. He earned another first-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 43.94. Junior Jani Brackett swam two season-best times in both the 50 and 100 freestyle events. He took fourth in the 50-yard race.
In addition to his first-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay, Smith earned fourth place in the 200-yard individual medley and swam a season-best time of 1:48.98 in 200 butterfly, taking second place. Teammate Nate Clark followed closely in third place, swimming a season-best time of 1:50.58.
Junior Shane Milu took two third-place finishes in addition to his win in the 400 freestyle relay. In the 100 free, Milu posted a season-best time of 45.88 after he swam a 1:40.06 in the 200-yard freestyle. In the 200-yard breaststroke, sophomore Mitchell Johson placed second with a season time of 2:04.41 while Mustang sophomore Grega Plevelji followed in third with a career-best time of 2:07.51.
Diver Preston Holcombe finished in second place on the one-meter board with a score of 279.00 before finishing fourth on the three-meter board with 245.71 points.
The SMU men’s swim and dive team will head to Houston to defend its title at the Conference USA Invitational Feb. 14-17.
