Men's Swimming Sets Another School Record on Day Two of NCAA

[PonyPride]

Men's Swimming Sets Another School Record on Day Two of NCAAs
Mustangs Move to 13th Place Overall; Break 200 Medley Relay Record Twice


SEATTLE, Wash. (SMU)--The SMU men's swimming team broke its second school record in as many days at the 85th Annual NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships hosted by the University of Washington.

The Mustangs set a new school record in the 200 medley relay, clocking a time of 1:26.16 in the prelim round. In the finals, Pontus Renholm, Alex Hetland, Luka Vrtovec and Thomas Fadnes bettered their prelim mark, re-breaking their new record. The foursome clocked in at 1:25.95, good for sixth place overall.

Hetland turned in a strong performance in the 100 breast, finishing seventh in the prelim in 53.20. In the final Friday night, Hetland improved his time by two one-hundredths of a second, touching the wall in 53.18 and taking sixth place in the event.

In the 800 free relay, Nate Clark, Shane Milu, Fadnes and Maverick Smalley combined for a time of 6:31.97, finishing 14th in the event, earning six points for the Ponies.

Two Mustangs swam career-best times during the second day of competition. Clark completed the 200 free prelim in 1:36.36, shaving almost three-tenths of a second off his previous best mark. Renholm also clocked a personal best Friday, swimming the 100 back prelim in 47.58, over three-tenths of a second faster than his previous mark. Renholm finished tied for 18th in the event, just missing the final.

At the end of the second night, the Mustangs were in 13th place with 57 points.

"We had another great night tonight," said head coach Eddie Sinnott. "We moved all the way up to 13th place, so we're back in the hunt, where we should be. Alex was a leader in his race. He finished sixth, which was a disappointment for him, but he did a great job. So we'll take it. The 800 free relay did great and the 200 medley relay set the school record twice. Tomorrow, it will be hard for us to hang on to 13th place, but all we can do is do what we can and swim the best we can and see what happens."

The Ponies are back in action Saturday as they begin the prelims at 2pm Central and the finals at 9pm Central. The complete meet schedule and live results can be found here. SMU recap and results will be posted on SMUMustangs.com following the completion of Saturday's finals.