Men’s swim and dive teams from the Air Force Academy were defeated by Colorado Mesa and BYU in dual meets held Saturday at the Richards Building Pool in Provo, Utah. The Falcons lost to Colorado Mesa 183-170 and to BYU 231-122.
Head coach Rob Clayton commented on the team’s performance, saying, “Although we came up a little short this weekend as a team, I am very proud of the guys. They continue to make changes, grow and improve and we swam very well this weekend.”
In individual events, James Winterfield won the 200 IM with a time of 1:48.45, followed by teammate Matthew Doty in second place at 1:49.13.
On the diving side, Brady Nichol earned second place on the 3-meter springboard with a score of 314.85. Freshman Lucas Gerten finished third with a score of 313.40.
Head diving coach Kyle Van Valkenburg said, “The men faced some extremely tough competition and performed well. The divers came into the weekend eager to compete and they showed good consistency. Nichol put out two outstanding performances to lead the team.”
Distance swimmers Evan Witte and Tucker Rice placed second and third respectively in the 1650 freestyle event.
In backstroke events, Louie Body took second in the 200 backstroke while Garrett Kennedy finished third.
Tanner Wilson continued his strong season by finishing second in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 54.44 seconds. Senior Bridon Rosales was fifth at 55.07 seconds.
The Air Force “A” relay team secured third place in the 400 medley relay with a combined time of 3:17.04.
Joe Christ finished third in the 200 freestyle for Air Force.
In butterfly events, Jonas Dark led three Falcons by placing third in the 200 fly; Danny Detjen was fourth and Dylan Ferguson fifth.
Sprinter Jordan Falls recorded Air Force’s fastest time in the men’s 50 freestyle at fifth place overall.
Coach Clayton added, “We took a significant step forward towards our goal of championship swimming at the MPSF Championships in late February. Shoutout to Winterfield and Doty who finished top two in the 200 IM.”
The Falcons will next host the Air Force Diving Invitational from January 29 through January 31 while their swimming squad will also compete at the Colorado Sprint Championship on January 31.
