On Oct. 25, the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams swept Division II University of Texas-Permian Basin in their home opener.
The Tiger women won 12 events, earning them a score of 190-86. The men won eight events to finish with a 141-121 win over UT-Permian Basin.
“I think we’ve got a good team back from a year ago, and we’ve got some good first years that are going to make things interesting,” said head swimming coach John Ryan.
Kari Wilkins won both the 100-yard breaststroke (1:10.14) and the 200 breaststroke (2:36.19). Thea Hesson also won two events. She placed first in the 100 backstroke (1:02.46) and the 200 backstroke (2:13.43)
Also contributing to the Tigers’ win were Lindsay Hagmann, who won the 50 freestyle (25.25); Lydia Jones, who won the 200 freestyle (1:58.97); Lauren Cuda, who won the 200 individual medley (2:18.55); and Bethany Rysak, who won the 500 freestyle (5:20.51).
Trinity also won two of their women’s relay races. The team of Jones, Kelly Holton, Becca Bond and Hagmann won the 200 medley relay (1:53.11). They also won the 400 freestyle relay (3:43.97) with the team of Rysak, Hagmann, Kate Bommer and Jones.
“I especially think that our relays proved that we are able to work together, and the fact that we had wins in the relays shows that the team is doing really well,” Bond said. “It shows that everyone is ready to race and that we are really strong early in the season.”
On the men’s side, Andrew Thiesse won three events this weekend, capturing titles in the 200 freestyle (1:46.23), the 500 freestyle (4:53.55) and the 200 individual medley (2:03.58).
“I am very proud of my performance in the meet, but more so in the performance of the team,” Thiesse said. “The team did a good job of picking each other up when people were down.”
Stephen Culberson won the 100 freestyle (47.64), an event for which he won the national title last season. Adam Thomas won the 50 freestyle (22,37), Brandon Tunon won the 100 butterfly (53.14), and Spencer Adickes won the 200 backstroke (2:02.76).
The men also earned a relay win in the 400 freestyle (3:14.61) with the team of Thomas, Culberson, Gordon Allan and Isaac Johnson.
“In the end, we like the competitiveness, and liked the way that these guys closed out the meet,” Ryan said. “We were down pretty good at one point there, so the comeback was good to see. They really rallied and swam tough.”
The diving team competed in intrasquad competition this weekend because UT-Permian Basin doesn’t have a diving program.
Sarah Mrkonich won both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events. She scored a 219.55 on the low board and she posted a score of 239.85 on the high board.
The next meet is on Nov. 7 at the University of the Incarnate Word.
