The Saint Louis University swimming and diving teams finished their seasons with a splash, breaking or tying seven school records at the Atlantic 10 Conference Championships in Buffalo, N.Y.
“The team did really well,” said Jim Halliburton, men’s and women’s swimming and diving coach. “Most of the swimmers swam their best times all year, which was our goal going in to conference.
“I would have preferred that the women score more points, but the competition is tough. Points were hard to come by.”
The women’s team finished with 215 points for ninth place overall.
Sophomore Anna Larson led the women with a third-place finish in the 3-meter diving board, scoring a 507.10, the second-best in SLU history. Junior Emily Walter followed Larson with a score of 357.30, a seventh-place finish.
Junior Elena Ramirez grabbed a fourth-place finish in the 200-meter butterfly finals with a time of 2:05.67. It was the first time Ramirez did not win an A-10 Championship.
Freshman Katie Robinson placed 10th in the 1650-meter free, earning the second-fastest time in Billiken history.
On the men’s side, senior Brad Byars helped lead the team to an eighth-place finish overall with 257 points.
“Brad Byars came through and won the conference championship in the 100-meter freestyle,” Halliburton said. “Every year we have been in the Atlantic 10 Conference, we have had at least one conference champion.”
Parker described Byars’ victory as “the most exciting moment of the weekend,” since it was Byars’ last race as a Billiken. While Byars tied his school record with his first place, junior Kevin Parker broke his own school record in the 200-meter fly twice over the weekend. He placed fourth in the event overall.
“Overall, we did well; we had a goal going in of placing top five,” Parker said. “That did not happen, but everyone swam incredible from all the teams. I was impressed with how a lot of our guys swam.”
In the 1650-meter free, junior Justin Breithaupt placed sixth, while freshman teammate Michael Dahle took eighth. Breithaupt notched the second-best time on the SLU history charts, while Dahle’s time ranks fourth all-time.
Another freshman, Joey Frampus, placed 15th in the 200-meter breaststroke finals. His time in the preliminaries ranks seventh in SLU history.
“We had some freshman step up and make impacts with [Frampus] and [Dahle],” Parker said. “The weekend wasn’t as much about individuals as it was the team events. In the 800[-meter] free relay, we cut five seconds off the record. That was special because it wasn’t just one person, it was four who all set out with the same goal of breaking the record.”
Despite its ups and downs, this season was one of the best in SLU’s history, Parker said.
“[In] most of the meets, we had with stiff competition, we stepped it up,” he said. “We pushed each other all season. It was easy to do well because of the family feel to the team.
“This was the most team-oriented season since I have been here, and there was always someone there to push you. It was nice to feed off the energy of the other swimmers, so I was very happy with how the season turned out.”
