MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Highlighted by freshman Hunter Armstrong's fourth-place finish in the 100 backstroke A final, members of the West Virginia University men's and women's swimming and diving teams continued competition at USA Swimming's 2019 Toyota U.S. Open Championships in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday.
 
Competing at Georgia Tech's McAuley Aquatic Center, Armstrong touched the wall in 54.74 to take fourth place and become the top collegiate finisher in the event. The mark also was a personal best time in the event for the rookie Mountaineer.
 
"Today was a great second day," WVU coach Vic Riggs said. "We had a lot of good swims today, and I'm really proud of how everyone raced. Many of our swimmers finished with personal best times or best times for prelims, so that was great to see. Hunter making the A final was exciting, and his swim in finals, finishing fourth with a personal best and the fastest collegiate swim in the event was very impressive."
 
Earlier in the day in his 100 back prelim swim, Armstrong finished in sixth place with a time of 55.16 to qualify for the event's A final. In the finals, Armstrong shaved almost half a second off his prelim time to finish in 54.74.
 
The Dover, Ohio, native's times in prelims and finals were enough to earn him Olympic Trials Cuts for the 2020 Olympic Trials, which are set to take place from June 21-28, 2020, in Omaha Nebraska.
 
In total, 14 Mountaineers competed on Friday, and the results are listed below.
 
Women's 100M Butterfly
76.       Emily Haimes               1:02.57
87.       Morgan Bullock           1:02.86
 
Men's 100M Butterfly
41.       Trayton Saladin            54.50
73.       David Dixon                 55.38
77.       Christopher O'Shea     55.43
93.       Angelo Russo               56.33
96.       Jack Frazier                  56.40
106.     Sam Neaveill                56.74
107.     Denys Kostromin         56.76
115.     Max Gustafson            57.21
132.     Austin Hartke              58.28
 
Men's 200M Freestyle
83.       Hunter Armstrong       1:54.75
 
Women's 100M Breaststroke
105.     Mathilde Kaelbel          1:14.58
 
Women's 100M Backstroke
121.     Ally VanNetta              1:06.10
 
Men's 100M Backstroke
6.         Hunter Armstrong       55.16
49.       Trayton Saladin            57.50
69.       Christopher O'Shea     58.16
115.     Angelo Russo               59.88
117.     Austin Hartke              1:00.05
 
Men's 100M Backstroke A Final
4.         Hunter Armstrong       54.74
 
Seniors Jack Frazier, Sam Neaveill, Jack Portmann and Trayton Saladin, juniors David Dixon, Christopher O'Shea, Angelo Russo and Ryen Van Wyk, sophomore Josh Harlan and Armstrong are tabbed to compete in Saturday's prelims session.
 
On the women's side, seniors Morgan Bullock and Alex Pampalone and freshmen Emily Haimes and Mathilde Kaelbel also are set to swim on Saturday.
 
Action at the Toyota U.S. Open began on Wednesday, Dec. 4, and continues through Saturday, Dec. 7.
 
Meet results are available at OmegaTiming.com. Saturday's finals session will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network and livestreamed on NBCsports.com. All prelims sessions are featured on USASwimming.org.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUSwimDive on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.