Mustang relay teams set more program records

TMU Director of Aquatics and Swimming & Diving Head Coach Gabe Woodward predicted that the Mustangs' relay teams would be improved this season. That has more than held true through two meets.
 
"We have a few relays that are ranked in the top-10 times nationally on both the men's and women's teams for the first time ever," Woodward said. "We broke more team records in each relay we swam this weekend."
 
The Mustangs took part in the Rodionoff Invitational, hosted by Pepperdine University, on Friday and Saturday in Malibu. Just as in the team's first meet of the season, multiple program records were set this time around.
 
The women's 200-yard freestyle relay of Lezly Plahn, Emma McMurray, Allyn-Ashley Bennett and Carman Hunt won the NAIA competition, finishing the race in 1:43.75. That time is good enough for eighth-best in the NAIA this season.
 
The men's equivalent of Nilton Dos Santos de Oliveira, JT Sears, David Kugler and Ryan Tanis posted the ninth-best NAIA time of the season (1:29.95).
 
The women's 200-yard medley relay of Plahn, Cassandra O'Connor, McMurray and Bennett rank eighth in the NAIA with its time of 1:56.00 over the weekend, while the men's team of Sears, Tanis, Dos Santos de Oliveira and Xavier Gutierrez ranks (1:42.15) 12th nationally after the most recent meet.
 
The women's 400-yard free relay of Plahn, McMurray, Bennett and O'Connor swam the 11th-fastest time in the NAIA this year (3:56.86) to place second among NAIA teams at the meet.
 
"We also have numerous individual swimmers ranked nationally in the top-10," Woodward said. "All-in-all, it was a solid meet for us competing against some strong NCAA D1 and D2 teams."
 
Woodward specifically highlighted the contributions of Sears, Nilton Dos Santos de Oliveira, McMurray and Plahn.
 
Sears won the 200-yard butterfly among all competitors in a time of 2:00.27. His season-best time of 1:58.60 at the PCSC North State Meet is the seventh-best time in the NAIA this season.
 
He finished fifth overall and first among NAIA swimmers in the men's 400-yard IM, touching the wall in 4:24.46, while he also placed seventh overall and first in the NAIA race in the 500-yard free (4:57.21).
 
Dos Santos de Oliveira finished second overall and first among NAIA participants in the 100-yard butterfly (52.79 seconds). He was then sixth overall in the 100-yard free (49.16 seconds), edging teammate Tanis (50.34 seconds) in the NAIA portion of the meet.
 
In the women's 100-yard free, McMurray (54.88 seconds) and Plahn (55.76 seconds) swam the sixth and ninth-fastest times by NAIA swimmers this season. They placed third and eighth overall and first and second in the NAIA portion of the meet.
 
Marcus McCormic finished sixth overall and first among NAIA competitors in the men's 100-yard breaststroke (1:02.13).
 
"The team is putting in the hard work necessary to compete for All-American status at the end of the season," Woodward said.
 
The one NAIA All-American on the TMU roster, Courtney Simpson, placed third overall and first among NAIA competitors in the women's three-meter diving with a score of 209.62. She then finished seventh overall in the one-meter diving competition, winning the NAIA portion with a score of 198.10 to edge freshman teammate Tyler Coffman (185.75).
 
Darby Culver, the first diver in men's program history, won the NAIA one-meter diving competition with 180.00 points and the NAIA three-meter event with a score of 165.05.
 
Master's is scheduled to compete next at the Soka University Meet on Nov. 13 in Aliso Viejo.