Dixon Wins Gold, WVU Closes Big 12s

Saturday, February 26

West Virginia University

Big 12 Championship

February 27, 2022 12:01 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Day 4 Results

By: Reghan Bailey

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – After four days of competition, the West Virginia University men's and women's swimming and diving teams concluded competition at the Big 12 Swimming and Diving Championship on Saturday, hosted by the Mountaineers at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park for the second time in program history.

The final day's excitement began early, as Mountaineer diving had their best showing in program history on men's platform. With one NCAA-Zone qualifying score in prelims, coming from junior Owen Johns (301.85), and advancing four to the A-finals, WVU paved the way for a successful last day. Following the diving prelims, sophomore William Mullen broke the men's 1650 program record, finishing in fourth with a time of 15:21.57. The record was previously set by Craig Cooper in 1983.

In all, the Mountaineers collected 11 total medals at the 2022 Big 12 Championship. On the final day of action, WVU added a gold from senior David Dixon in the men's 200 fly. A pair of silvers from senior diver PJ Lenz on the men's platform and the women's 400 freestyle relay team. Sophomore Justin Heimes, junior Paige Dressel, freshman Mia Walters and the men's 400 relay added four more bronze to the medal count.

"Really proud of these teams. They fought all the way till the end," Mountaineer coach Vic Riggs said. "Our season and lifetime best times are through the roof. Will broke a 39-year-standing record in the mile, David won the 200 fly and the women's relay finishing second made for a great way to finish out our week."

The final session of the championship began with the men's platform final. Lenz led the way with his second-place finish, notching a 373.30, just shy of a personal and program best. Senior Nick Cover (4th – 355.20), Johns (5th – 319.65) and freshman Glenn Eloriaga (7th – 297.30) rounded out the Mountaineers' program-best showing.

"This was a fantastic day for the men, and our freshman Sarah," diving coach Karla Helder said. "Today was a fun competition. We had personal-bests, Zones-qualifying scores, and an amazing showing in prelims and finals! Our crew knew exactly what they needed to do and they did it. They've constantly shown improvement and I'm so happy for all of them. It's time to build off this mindset and see what they can pull together for Zones in a couple weeks."

Finals in the competition pool began with the 200 backstroke, where the Mountaineers earned a pair of bronze medals. Starting with the women, Dressel recorded a time of 1:57.43, good for a third-place finish. Sophomore Abby Reardon followed behind, finishing in seventh-place (2:00.22), respectively. For the men, Heimes led the way for WVU, touching in 1:45.79 to take third. Senior Josh Harlan took sixth (1:46.87), while freshman Jake Young finished eighth (1:48.00), respectively.

Junior Jacqueline McCutchan was the lone Mountaineer to compete in the 100 free A-final, as she claimed sixth place after touching the wall in 49.97. Junior Ginger Hansen (50.81), senior Ana Zortea (50.84) and junior Harna Minezawa (51.68) all competed in the women's 100 free B-final.

In the men's event, West Virginia represented five of the eight spots in the B-final. Senior Max Gustafson paced the squad with a first-place finish (44.33), good for ninth overall. Following the senior's lead, freshman Conner McBeth took second (44.39), followed by classmate Braden Osborn (4th – 44.75), sophomore Roanoke Shirk (5th – 44.90) and junior David Snider (8th – 45.34).

The 1,650-yard freestyle came next, and freshman Emily Knorr placed fourth (16:47.65), just missing medals. Classmate Miranda Kirtley recorded a time of 16:51.71, good for sixth place, respectively. Next came Mullen's record-breaking performance on the men's side. The sophomore paced the way for the Mountaineers, followed by classmate Brendan Williams in seventh (15:43.68), respectively.

In the 200 breaststroke, WVU had a trio from the women's squad in the B-final, including juniors Tatum Peyerl (4th – 2:19.49), Mathilde Kaelbel (6th – 2:20.32) and sophomore Shelby Gerving (8th – 2:22.60). The men sent a trio to the A-final, led by sophomore Joe Schaefer in sixth (1:58.90), followed by freshman Reilly Keaney (7th – 2:00.27) and senior Fausto Huerta (8th – 2:03.69).

WVU claimed a pair of medals in the 200 butterfly events, as freshman Mia Walters secured third for the women in 2:01.34, and Dixon finished first for the men (1:43.64). Sophomore Lauren Musbach also competed in the women's championship final, finishing seventh (2:03.52), while freshman Zhenya Ingram placed fifth in the men's event (1:49.69).

In the final event in the diving well, Krusinski represented the Mountaineers in the women's platform finals, placing sixth with a score of 224.55. In the consolation finals, senior Camille Burt captured third place for 10th overall with a score of 207.95, while junior Marian Tiemeier followed in sixth (188.40).

The 2022 Big 12 Championship concluded with the 400 freestyle relay, where the women's team of McCutchan, Hansen, Minezawa and Zortea claimed their second silver of the weekend, as a relay team, touching in of 3:20.24. The men's team of Gustafson, Osborn, Shirk and McBeth took bronze and touched the wall in 2:56.07 to earn the bronze medal.

In the final team standings, the Mountaineer men finished in third with a final team score of 788 points. On the women's side, WVU finished in fourth place, for the second year in a row, with 502.5 points. The Texas men and women once again earned the championship titles, as the men topped the leaderboard with 1,033 points, and the women earned 1,083.

Up next for West Virginia, a handful of Mountaineer men will travel to Columbus, Ohio to participate in the NCAA Last Chance Meet, on Sunday, March 6, in order to try to earn an NCAA-qualifying time. Competition will take place at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion and action will begin at 12:00 p.m. ET.

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