ODESSA, Texas – The Tiger men's swimming & diving team fell short to Division II University of Texas-Permian Basin by a final score of 169-127 on Saturday. Trinity finished with four individual victories in the meet, while also securing 19 other second- and third-place performances.
Grant Bibza (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) won two individual events and was also a part of the 200 medley relay team that finished third. Bibza won the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:12.13, then came back and won the 200 individual medley in 1:58.68 on Saturday. He was also third in the 100 breast with a time of 1:00.79 and started off the meet with a time of 1:39.80 in the medley relay.
Joining Bibza on the relay were
Daniel Itkins (Houston, Texas / The Village School),
William Kitto IV (Prairieview, La. / Catholic High School), and
Ian Truong (Tulsa, Okla. / Jenks). They were edged by Trinity's other 200 medley relay team of
Enzo Fiorese (McKinney, Texas / Heritage),
John Key (El Paso, Texas / Franklin),
Trace Briones (San Antonio, Texas / Health Careers), and
Nathan Perez (Alpharetta, Ga. / Johns Creek), who finished second with a time of 1:37.14.
Key was one of the other individual event winners for the Tigers, taking gold in the 100 breast ahead of Bibza with a time of 1:00.60.
William Walker (Houston, Texas / Westside) won the 100 freestyle with a time of 48.02 to round out the Trinity winners.
Luke Fender (Jackson, Miss. / St. Andrew's Episcopal) finished second to Walker with a time of 48.58, while Key was fourth after touching in 49.82 seconds. Walker also took third place in the 100 butterfly with a time of 53.33, followed by
John Fontenot (Austin, Texas / St. Andrew's) in fourth (54.10) and Fiorese in fifth (54.15). Fender was the runner-up in two different events, beginning with the 200 free. He was second with a time of 1:43.56, beating out
Nickolas Rotolo (Houston, Texas / Houston Christian) in third with a time of 1:46.37, and Walker in fourth by just 0.09 seconds. Later in the day, Fender finished second in the 500 free with a time of 4:43.83.
Max Rolla-Mullis (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Pioneer) was the runner-up on both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving boards at today's meet. He scored 222.40 on the low board, then came back with a score of 226.85 on the high board later in the day.
In addition to nabbing second in the 200 medley relay, Perez was also the runner-up in the 1000 free event, finishing in 10:29.06.
Chase Hays (Austin, Texas / Anderson) was third with a time of 10:43.25 in the long-distance race. Perez also came in fourth in the 200 fly with a time of 2:04.39 that was just behind Rotolo in third (2:02.89), but just ahead of
William Sikes (Pittsboro, N.C. / Woods Charter) in fifth (2:07.40). Itkins was second in the 200 back with a time of 2:00.91, while also finishing third in the 50 free with a time of 22.24 seconds and finishing as the top Tiger swimmer in the 100 back in a time of 55.15 seconds that was good for fourth place.
Ryan O'Leary (Austin, Texas / Austin) was second behind Bibza in the 200 breast with a time of 2:15.04, with Key just 0.10 back in third place in the event. O'Leary also finished third behind Bibza in the 200 IM, turning in a time of 2:02.60.
Briones, Fiorese, Hays, and Walker took second in the 200 free relay at the end of the meet, finishing in 1:27.70.
Owen Flynn (Guthrie, Okla. / Heritage Hall) was joined by Fontenot, Kitto IV, and Truong in third place with a time of 1:30.93.
Coach Speak
"The men had some great opportunities to compete today," said Head Coach
Cathleen Pruden. "While we came up short on the team score, there were some really solid individual performances. We have been really focused on executing the details in practice and today we saw some progress in implementing those details. Next weekend, we get several more opportunities to improve."
Up Next
The Tiger men will split up for a pair of meets next weekend. Some members of the Trinity team will head to Chicago, Ill., for the D3 Shootout. Others will return home to take on fellow Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference opponent in the University of St. Thomas. The D3 Shootout is a two-day event on Friday and Saturday, November 8-9. Trinity and St. Thomas will face off in two separate meets each day.
