Records Fall on Day One of Big 12 Championship

Wednesday, February 21

Austin, Texas

3:30 p.m.

West Virginia University

Big 12 Championships

February 21, 2018 08:38 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Day One Results

By: Joe Mitchin

AUSTIN, Texas – The West Virginia University swimming and diving teams combined to break three school records on the opening night of the 2018 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championship, at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center, in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday.

MEET SCHEDULE | LIVE VIDEO STREAM

The Mountaineers set program-best times in the men's 200 medley relay, women's 200 breaststroke and women's 200 butterfly, as WVU earned four silver medals and a bronze.

Freshman Angelo Russo, junior Jake Armstrong, freshman David Dixon and junior Merwane El Merini set a school record in the men's 200 medley relay, earning a time of 1:25.97 and a second-place finish. The team topped the previous WVU record of 1:26.59, held by Bryce Bohman, Chris Brill, Julien Vialette and Tim Squires since 2014.

Earlier in the day, junior Emma Harris and sophomore Morgan Bullock registered WVU-record performances in time trials. Harris (2:10.14) broke her own school record of 2:12.37 in the women's 200 breaststroke, while Bullock (1:54.13) set the all-time program best in the women's 200 butterfly. The Zeeland, Michigan, native took down the previous record of 1:54.43, held by Mandie Nugent since 2012.

The WVU men lead after the first night of competition after compiling 126 points on Wednesday. Texas is in second place with 115 points. For the women, the Mountaineers are tied for second place with 62 points, while Texas leads with 80 points.

"We're really excited about how the first day went," WVU coach Vic Riggs said. "The time trials this morning were something that we were hoping were going to work out for us, and it did. It put Emma in a really good position to make NCAAs, and Morgan is on her way to making NCAAs. I think that energy carried over to this afternoon in our relays. The women's (200 medley) relay was the fourth-fastest in school history, and the women's 800 free relay, we haven't been that fast in years. The men broke a school record and were just off another record by under a second. We had really good splitting as well. I think we swam really well."

Along with the second-place finish in the men's 200 medley relay, the Mountaineers also finished second in the men's 800 freestyle relay, as sophomore Ryan Kelly, junior Drew Damich, redshirt senior Nate Carr and freshman Max Gustafson recorded a time of 6:27.82. The performance was good for the second-best time in school history in the event.

On the women's side, the Mountaineer team of freshman Ally VanNetta, Harris and sophomores Julia Miranda and Julia Nilton took fifth place in the 200 medley relay (1:40.45), before WVU earned a second-place finish in the 800 freestyle relay. Bullock, senior Amelie Currat and freshmen Luisa Winkler and Giselle Gursoy tallied a 7:10.66, the third-fastest time in program history.

On springboard, all four WVU divers qualified for the men's 1-meter finals. Senior Michael Proietto earned a score of 364.70, claiming a silver medal. Senior Logan McHenry placed third with a score of 330.15. Additionally, junior Austin Smith (290.50) and freshman Caleb Keck (267.60) recorded sixth- and seventh-place finishes, respectively.

"We had a great start to the championships today," WVU diving coach Michael Grapner said. "I'm thrilled with each of the guys. A win was within reach, however each of the divers all made personal improvements, and I'm proud of them. The men made a nice contribution to the team score. Now, we just need to keep up the momentum and carry it over for the women's 1-meter event tomorrow."

Thursday's events at the Big 12 Championship include the 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle, 400 medley relay and women's 1-meter dive. Preliminaries are set to begin at 11 a.m. ET, with event finals are scheduled for 7 p.m.

"We just have to focus on each session as it comes," Riggs said. "We're swimming well right now, and you just want to live on that energy and know that we've put ourselves in a good position."

FloSports will provide live video coverage of the meet on FloSwimming.com. Live results of the championship can be found at the Big 12 Championship headquarters.

For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUSwimDive on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.