Both the men’s and women’s squads competed in the TYR Invitational at Northwestern University on Nov. 18-20. The men finished in fourth place overall, and the women earned seventh place.
The men had several finalists in the meet. In the 50-yard breaststroke, freshman Collin O’Brien earned fourth place, with a time of 25.70. Senior T.J. Decker also competed, placing sixth with a time of 26.04. Decker competed in three other events: the 100-yard breaststroke (third place, 56.21), 200-yard breaststroke (fourth place, 2:04.23) and the 100-yard IM (eighth place, 53.19).
Junior Ryan McCoy finished in fourth in the 500-yard freestyle (4:32.94). In the 50-yard butterfly, he placed third with a time of 21.88. His strongest performance was in the 100-yard butterfly, when he earned second place with a time of 47.74, a NCAA “B” Cutline race.
Freshman Grant Streid took seventh place in the 50-yard backstroke with a time of 23.69. He also placed eighth in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:52.16.
O’Brien also showed his skills in the 200-yard IM, and his time of 1:52.21 earned him eighth place in the event. He also competed in the 200-yard freestyle (eighth place, 1:42.66) and the 100-yard breaststroke (third place, 57.45).
Other competitors for the men included Senior Nick Jessee, who placed seventh in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:41.16 and freshman Keegan Paulson, who earned sixth place in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 50.74. Junior Jeremy Goodison battled through a long distance swim, the 1650-yard freestyle, and placed in fifth with a time of 16:07.26. Freshman Scott Street was close behind with a seventh-place finish in the same race (16:11.08).
Senior Austin Nguyenphu was the only male that won his event on SLU’s team. He smoked the competition in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:01.75.
In the 200-yard butterfly, sophomore Isaiah Williams took third place with a time of 1:49.87.
While the women may have had a low team finish, junior Mina Glenesk brought her A-game, breaking two SLU records in two of the three races in which she competed. She earned third in the 500-yard freestyle, making the new SLU record 4:53.76. In the 1650-yard freestyle, she took seventh place with a time of 17:05.15. She also competed in the 200-yard freestyle, posting a fifth-place finish (1:52.29).
Freshman Savannah Nichols competed in the 100-yard butterfly, earning sixth place (53.39), the 50-yard butterfly, earning seventh place (26.05), and the 200-yard butterfly, again taking seventh place (2:05.35).
Senior Olivia Garrett succeeded in her event, the 50-yard butterfly, by placing second with a time of 24.99. Fellow senior Alexa Gross posted a seventh-place finish in the 100-yard IM with a time of 59.37.
Select members from the two teams are competing in the USA Swimming Winter Nationals in Atlanta, Ga. through Dec. 3. The team will swim in the Eastern Illinois Relay Meet on Dec. 3.
