AUSTIN, Texas – 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 University of Texas at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
 
The final day of competition was highlighted by the Mountaineers adding five bronze and two silver medals.
 
"Very proud of both teams. Hard fought competition and they competed all the way to the end. We had many NCAA B qualifying cuts, numerous program all-time, top 10 performances and one Big 12 Champion!" coach Vic Riggs said.
 
In all, the Mountaineers collected 16 total medals at the 2023 Big 12 Championship. Senior Jacqueline McCutchan added a gold medal in the 100 back on night three. Five silver medals were added to the count by the women's 800 freestyle relay team, the men's and women's 200 free relay teams, men's 400 free relay team and junior William Mullen. The men's and women's 200 medley relay teams, 400 medley relay teams, men's 800 free relay team, women's 400 free relay team, senior David Snider, junior Justin Heimes, sophomore Glenn Eloriaga and sophomore Mia Walters added ten bronze medals for WVU.
 
On the final day in the diving well, Eloriaga claimed the bronze on the men's platform, with a score of 328.55. Senior Owen Johns finished in eighth (261.80) and freshman Christian Torres finished tenth (185.45). For the women, sophomore Sarah Krusinski finished seventh, with a score of 228.15.
 
Finals in the competition pool began the 200 backstroke, where Heimes earned a bronze medal recording a time of 1:43.84. Freshman Jamin Harlan finished finished in sixth (1:47.07) and freshman Maverick Bray finished eighth (1:48.90) for the men. On the women's side, junior Paige Dressel finished fifth with a time of 1:59.59, while sophomore Emily Knorr finished in 2:00.61 for eighth place.
 
McCutchan added a fifth-place finish (49.27) for the women in the 100 free, while freshman Ada Szwabinska finished eighth (50.36). In the men's event, sophomore Conner McBeth finished in fourth place with a time of 43.34 and senior Roanoke Shirk finished in 44.77 for seventh place.
 
Mullen represented WVU in the men's 1,650-yard freestyle earning a silver medal and a new program record, with a time of 15:20.04. Sophomore Miranda Kirtley was the lone Mountaineer to compete in the women's 1,650 free, placing fourth with a time of 16:43.28.
 
In the 200 breaststroke, freshman Mia Cheatwood finished fourth for the women in 2:10.41, the second fastest time in program history. The men sent a trio to the A-final, led by junior Danny Berlitz in sixth (1:56.76), followed by freshman Adam McDonald in seventh (1:57.23) and sophomore Reilly Keaney in eighth (1:58.37).
 
West Virginia added another bronze medal to the count in the 200 butterfly event, as sophomore Mia Walters secured third for the women in 2:00.82. Junior Lilly Culp finished close behind in fourth, touching the pads in 2:01.23, while junior Lauren Musbach finished in eighth (2:03.56). On the men's side, senior David Snider (1:48.02) and freshman Alvaro Santiago (1:49.99) finished in seventh and eighth place, respectively.
 
The 2023 Big 12 Championship concluded with the 400 freestyle relay where the men's team of Berlitz, sophomore Braden Osborn, Shirk, and McBeth claimed their second silver of the weekend as a relay team, finishing in 2:54.77. The women's team of McCutchan, Cheatwood, Szwabinska, and junior Abby Reardon added another bronze medal for the Mountaineers, with a time of 3:20.24.
 
In the final team standings, the Mountaineer men finished in third with a final team score of 755 points. On the women's side, WVU finished in fourth place, for the third year in a row, with 540 points. The Texas men and women once again earned the championship titles, as men topped the leaderboard with 1,060 points, and the women earned 1,105 points.
 
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