SAN ANTONIO, Texas - With wins in both the 200 medley relay and the 800 freestyle relay, the Trinity University men opened a 116-94 lead over Southwestern University after the first day of the 2020 SCAC Men's Swimming & Diving Championship. Official Website | Thursday's Complete Results | Photo Gallery
As has been the case with most collegiate competition this academic year, the 2021 championships have been modified due to COVID-19 protocol. The meet itself has been condensed from its normal four-day schedule to a three-day event. Additionally, the meet is being conducted as two separate events with the women's teams swimming in the morning and men's teams competing in the afternoon. All heats are being swam as timed finals with no preliminaries.
Trinity jumpstarted the men's afternoon session with a victory in the 200 free relay as senior Shamzi Alkaff, freshman Michael Kohl, sophomore Nolan Anthony and freshman Nathan Early touched first in a Walker Pool record time of 1:22.61 - the third-fastest time in SCAC championship history. It was the Tigers' first win in the event since 2018. Southwestern, the defending champions in the event, finished second in a time of 1:24.58 and Colorado College was third in 1:27.62.
In the first individual swim of the session, Trinity's Kohl (pictured) built off the momentum from his contribution to the team's earlier relay win and posted a first-place finish in the 500 free, stopping the clock in a time of 4:37.94. His teammate, sophomore Omar Shahatit was second in a time of 4:38.79 and freshman Sebastian Ortiz of Southwestern finished third in 4:42.15.
After finishing as runner-up in the 200 IM a year ago, junior Daniel Sarman took top honors at this year's championship meet, finishing in a time of 1:55.13. Southwestern sophomore Sam Anderson touched second in a time of 1:55.50 and Trinity senior James Warren was third in 1:55.59.
Finishing up the last individual event of the opening session, Southwestern senior Keith Gill won this third consecutive 50 free, joining DePauw University's Robert Alexander as the only other SCAC male student-athlete to win the event three or more titles in a career. Gill led the pack this year in the 50 free with a finishing time of 21.08. He was followed on the leaderboard by a pair of Trinity sprinters as Nolan Anthony was second (21.18) and Shamzi Alkaff finished third (21.34).
The Trinity men bookended its earlier relay win with a victory in the 400 medley as the foursome of sophomore Matt Lanzara, freshman Kendal Southwell, Kohl and Early led the Tigers to their second-consecutive win in the event. This year's foursome finished in a time of 3:24.47 - a Walker Pool record and the third-fastest time in SCAC championship history. Southwestern finished in second in a time of 3:30.81 and Centenary College was third in 3:33.13.
The team standings after the first five events are as follows:
1) Trinity University - 321
2) Southwestern University - 226
3) Colorado College - 174
4) McMurry University - 87
5) Centenary College - 85
6) University of the Ozarks - 71
7) Austin College - 52
The men's competition continues on Friday with timed finals beginning at 4:30 pm CT. Click here for the complete schedule of events.
