The Pioneer swim and dive teams each claimed back-to-back Sun Belt Conference titles last week in their final SBC championship ever, which took place in Rockwall, Texas, Wednesday through Saturday.
The Pioneers claimed a total of 18 1st-place finishes over the weekend with star performances from both the men and women.
“I was really proud of both teams for repeating. I think it’s hard to do, and I really think our seniors passed on a get-it-done attitude that made this possible,” said head coach Brian Schrader.
The championships did not see much in the way of single swimmers dominating the various events. Rather, the entire team was set on ranking, as almost every event saw a range of winners from all parts of the team.
The exception to this egalitarian surge of winning was this year’s SBC Diver of the Year, freshman Ross Edfort, who dominated most of the diving events, finishing with a gold medal in the 1-M.
The Pioneers finished the four-day competition strong in every event, bringing both the men’s and women’s teams to overall championship victories.
“Our men were great from the start, and when they had to win today, they did,” said Schrader.
Starting Wednesday, the Pioneers did well with freshmen Anna Labozan, Bridgette McNally and Drew Matthews and junior Rachel Burns, who finished more than two seconds faster than Florida Atlantic in the 800 freestyle team relay, setting a new SBC record in the process.
In addition, senior-freshman diver combo Elizabeth Yovich and Dana Gau put up solid performances on the 3-M board, finishing 5th (242.10) and 6th (238.65), respectively. On the men’s side, the Pioneers claimed 1st in the 800 freestyle and 2nd in the 200 freestyle relay.
“Closing the evening with two wins is always a great way to leave the building,” said Schrader. “I thought our women’s 800 freestyle relay was great. To break a conference and school record on the first night of the meet was fun. Our men’s 800 free relay led start to finish and Clay Myers’ lead-off effort was outstanding.”
After Wednesday’s events, the men were tied for 1st with 74 points and the women sat in 2nd with 101 points.
The second day saw continued success as the women’s team rose to join the men in 1st at the head of the conference.
Denver went on to claim four more titles on Thursday, as Meyers and junior Robert Barret took gold in the 500 freestyle and 200 IM events. The women’s team took not just 1st, but the top three spots in the 50 freestyle and 2nd place in the 500 event.
“I couldn’t be more proud of how we raced. Everyone on the team scored points, and that is an awesome way to win a championship,” said Schrader.
Friday brought more of the same results, as the women’s team continued to surge ahead and claimed a total of 10 SBC titles by the end of the day. Freshman Samantha Corea managed not only to set a new DU record of 53.75 for the 100 butterfly, but also to tie the existing SBC record. Senior Jackie Leung recorded her first NCAA standard in the 400 IM.
Saturday ended the competition with Denver taking 1st in a range of events.
In men’s freestyle, senior Clayton Meyers scored the team’s first win of the night on Saturday, placing him alongside sophomore Kyle Milberg, who swept both his events over the weekend and broke his own SBC record with a time of 1:43:54 in the 200 backstroke.
Milberg went on to be named the SBC Co-Swimmer of the Year at the meet’s conclusion, along with Schrader, who was named the SBC Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career.
