WVU Tallies More Record Performances at Big 12 Meet

Thursday, February 22

Austin, Texas

11 a.m.

West Virginia University

Big 12 Championships

February 22, 2018 10:40 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Day Two Results

By: Joe Mitchin

AUSTIN, Texas – The West Virginia University swimming and diving teams competed in the second day of the 2018 Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championship, at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center, in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, as five more school records fell.

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Sophomore Morgan Bullock broke the school record in the women's 200 individual medley, earning a time of 1:57.66 and a silver medal in the event's championship final. The Zeeland, Michigan, native broke her own school record of 1:59.04 she set in the preliminaries earlier in the day.

WVU also broke multiple records in the men's and women's 400 medley relays. The men's team comprised of freshman Angelo Russo, junior Jake Armstrong, sophomore Sam Neaveill and junior Merwane El Merini finished in 3:09.78 for a silver medal. The group broke the previous record held by Bryce Bohman, Chris Brill, Andrew Marsh and Tim Squires (3:11.11) from 2014.

The women's 400 medley relay team of senior Amelie Currat, junior Emma Harris, Bullock and sophomore Julia Nilton went 3:37.43 to take down Danielle Smith, Jenelle Zee, Mandie Nugent and Rachael Burnett's WVU-best time of 3:38.56 from 2013. The group also finished second to earn a silver medal.

Currat's 100 backstroke time of 53.50 to lead off the 400 medley relay also set a program record, besting Danielle Smith's time of 53.85 from 2013.

The Mountaineers finished with three silver medals and two bronzes on the night. The team combined to produce eight NCAA 'B' cut times in Thursday's finals session. WVU also has totaled eight school records during the first two days of the conference meet.

"We had a really good night," WVU coach Vic Riggs said. "We had a lot of really good swims. I thought our 500 (freestyle) people made the adjustments that they needed to make, and our (individual medleys) were really solid. Finishing up with our 50 freestyle was really good.

"I think the highlights of the night were those records at the end. We've been under 3:40 once in the women, and we've never been under 3:10 for the men. That was a big part of our year, just trying to continually get our relays better and better, and it has paid off."

Thursday's finals session began with the women's 500 freestyle. After qualifying for the championship final earlier in the day, freshman Giselle Gursoy took eighth in a time of 4:51.99. In the consolation final, junior Morgan Carr earned a hard-fought victory in 4:51.33, winning by just .19 and finishing ninth overall. Freshman Luisa Winkler finished fifth in the B final, and 13th overall, with a time of 4:55.18.

In the men's event, sophomore Trayton Saladin went 4:24.90 in the championship final in an eighth-place finish. Sophomore Ryan Kelly claimed second in the consolation final, and 10th overall, in a time of 4:27.82, while senior James Koval took 15th overall.

Next came the women's 200 individual medley, where Bullock added to her big start to the championship meet.

"She's just having one of those meets," Riggs said of Bullock. "Her 200 individual medley was just a great swim. Her under-waters have come along really well, and she's using them very well when she's racing. I think it's carrying over to the other members of the team because we're swimming really well as a team."

Senior Taylor Gill and Harris competed in the event's consolation final for WVU. Gill went 2:06.68 for 15th overall, while Harris touched the wall in 2:08.57 for 16th overall. Junior Marah Bieger, freshman Kayla Gagnon and senior Loren Williams competed in the 200 individual medley C final.

Redshirt senior Nate Carr tallied a bronze-medal performance in the men's race, as he finished in 1:45.05. Freshman David Dixon (1:46.11) and Philip Kay (1:49.02) took fifth and seventh, respectively, in the championship final.

Sophomore Luke Hene won the consolation final of the event, securing a time of 1:48.48. Junior Jack Portmann finished in 1:50.26, while senior Drew Riebel went 1:50.69 in the heat.

The women's 50 freestyle championship final saw Nilton earn a bronze with a time of 22.51. Junior Sam Hall competed in the C final for WVU.

For the men, El Merini led the way with a fourth-place finish in the championship final, recording a 19.57. Junior Drew Damich went 20.22 for fifth place, while Neaveill took eighth.

A trio of Mountaineer men competed in the consolation final of the 50 freestyle, as Armstrong earned a victory, placing ninth overall, in a time of 20.77. Redshirt senior Frank Csonka and redshirt junior Tristen DiSibio also competed in the consolation final.

On springboard, juniors Averly Hobbs and Julia Calcut advanced to the women's 1-meter finals. Hobbs finished sixth with a score of 279.20, while Calcut's 267.65 was good for eighth.

"Today was a good day for the divers," WVU diving coach Michael Grapner said. "I am pleased with each of their performances and team contributions. It was great to have Averly and Julia come back for a final. Both girls were consistent and focused. This is a tough crowd of divers, but I know we can be competitive in the next two events. We just need to stay confident and dive aggressively."

After two days of competition, the men's team sits in second place with 290 points, as Texas leads with 380 points. For the women, the Mountaineers sit in third place with 199 points. The Texas women are in front with 374 points, while Kansas sits in second with 218.

"We have a really big day tomorrow," Riggs said. "We have to have a really strong day. We have kids that haven't raced yet. We're in a really good battle in the women's team situation, and we're setting ourselves up for a solid placing with the men."

The Mountaineers return to the pool for the third day of the four-day competition on Friday. Events include the 100 butterfly, 400 individual medley, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 200 freestyle relay and the men's and women's 3-meter dive.

The morning session is set to start at 11 a.m. ET, with diving preliminaries scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Event finals begin at 6 p.m.

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.