Saturday Results
CANTON, Ohio - The Wayne State men’s swimming and diving team held on to its third-place position after the fourth and final day of the NCAA Championships at C.T. Branin Natatorium.
Wayne State, which has finished in the top three in three of the last four years, totaled 343 points. Drury amassed 538 points to claim its sixth straight national men’s title. Incarnate Word came in second (403), and Grand Valley State trailed WSU in fourth (314).
A total of 12 Warriors accumulated 41 All-America accolades (31 First Team, 10 Honorable Mention).
Joaquin Abascal Gallegos (Madrid, Spain), who was WSU’s co-leader with seven First Team All-America honors, earned his second national championship of the week in the 200 breaststroke (1:59.49). He also broke Christer Tour’s 2008 school record of 2:00.23.
Cauli Bedran (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), who placed sixth in the 100 freestyle (44.70), also totaled seven First Team All-America awards this week. Bedran also anchored the seventh-place 400 free relay (3:03.75) with
Nathan Hesche (Jackson, Mich.),
Justin Shields (Chesterfield, Mich./Anchor Bay), and
Oskar Nordstrand (Stockholm, Sweden) to close out the meet.
Other strong individual performances came from Hesche, who finished 10th in the 200 backstroke (1:50.10) and
Matthew Laschuk (Tecumseh, Ont./Academie Ste. Cecile) who came in 14th in the 200 breaststroke (2:05.25).
Nordstrand, who swam in one of the afternoon heats of the 1650 free, wound up 21st (16:09.63) following Saturday night’s finals.
In the finals of the men’s three-meter diving,
Cayce Bolt (Sterling Hts., Mich./Warren Mott) came in third (489.20).
Mike Elliott (Washington, Mich./Romeo) and
Jeff Grant (Belleville, Mich.) posted respective scores of 396.70 and 337.70 in the prelims, placing ninth and 16th.
The third-place finish for Wayne State was its sixth consecutive top-eight performance at nationals.