n its first solo competition of the season, the Pioneer men’s swimming and diving team crushed the Air Force Academy 153-90 at the Cadet Natatorium in Colorado Springs on Saturday.
“Our guys were solid today,” said head coach Brian Schrader. “We were good in some spots, with nice performances from Clay Myers in the 1000 meter. Kyle Milberg had three wins, also Tyler Pennington and Jorge Palma in the 200 meter, Jay Giddens in the 50, and Eric Anderson was great on relays in the 50 fly.”
The weekend’s accomplishments follow a sweep of Brigham Young and Wyoming the week before at the Pioneers’ second home competition, held Jan. 14. With three wins so close together and the fact that the team has been regularly collecting honors from the Sun Belt Conference, there may be a chance for Denver to win major all-conference contests.
For the past two weeks, the Pioneers have swept the SBC Men’s Swimmer and Diver of the Week honors. For the week of Jan. 10, senior Tyler Pennington and freshman diver Ross Edfort earned the accolades based on their performances at the Pioneers’ meet against Florida Atlantic and Cincinnati on Dec. 17. Last week, Edfort was honored for the second week in a row and was joined by senior swimmer Jay Giddens.
“I have a young team putting out quality level performance. We have some big meets coming up and these guys are excited,” said Schrader.
The Pioneers are aiming to make an impression in the SBC this year, as it will be their final season before transitioning to the Western Athletic Conference in the fall of 2012.
With such a highly competitive program, the team’s success becomes even more impressive when considering the men’s team’s recognition as the Scholar All-America Team for the 2010-11 academic year as a result of the team’s cumulative GPA. The Pioneers topped all Division I men’s teams with a 3.44 team GPA, finishing .04 ahead of Boston College and Harvard.
“I would love to take credit for it, but it’s not us,” said Schrader. “These guys have their priorities straight: school, swim and then social.”
However, Edfort, who has already been recognized by the SBC five times during his rookie season, said the coaching staff makes a big difference in the program.
“[Being recognized] definitely doesn’t lose its touch,” said Edfort, who said he owes a lot of his success this season to the team’s diving coach, Aaron D’Addario. “In high school I had kind of plateaued, where I was doing well but I wasn’t getting any better. But the coach is great and he knows exactly how to pinpoint what you’re doing wrong and make you do better.”
Both the men’s and women’s teams will return to action at the Northwestern Invitational in Chicago on Jan. 27 and 28.
