SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The final day of the UIW Christmas Invitational was a good one for the University of the Incarnate Word women's swim team as they won three events at the Palo Alto Aquatic Center. The men's team added a pair of wins for good measure. (Results)
Both the UIW men and women were defeated by Grand Canyon University in the meet. The Lopes defeated the men 1,309 – 1,042 and the women 1,162.5 – 1,006.5.
Molly Freeman (Houston/Clear Brook HS) got the day started right for the Cardinals by winning the 1,650-yard freestyle. She touched the wall in 17:12.38 and teammate Kaitlyn Whalen (Apopka, FL/Apopka HS) was right behind her in second place in a time of 17:17.57.
Ashley Wayman (Universal City/Judson HS) followed the win in the 1,650 by winning the 200-yard backstroke. She dropped four seconds off her season best time in the event and finished in 2:04.62.
After Adrienne Morrow (Hot Springs, AR/Hot Springs HS) and Lana Nguyen (Kiev, Ukraine/NPD) took second and third in the 100-yard freestyle, the Cardinals picked up another win. Celeste Morgen (San Antonio/Johnson HS) easily won the 200-yard breaststroke in a time of 2:23.12 for the final victory of the day for the team.
The Cardinal women closed out the meet with a second place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:31.82, their best of the season.
The UIW men also started the day with a victory in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Connor Hennessy (San Antonio/Business Careers HS) won the race going away and nearly matched his time from the University of Texas meet. He hit the wall in 15:45.05.
Senior Thiago Parravicini (Rio de Janiero, Brazil/C.E.L.), 10th in the nation in the 200-yard breaststroke, dominated the event winning by 10 seconds in a near school record time of 1:54.72.
Daniel Torres (Chihuahua, Mexico/COBACH) and David Moore (San Antonio/Marshall HS) each took second place in their events. Torres clocked a season best 1:46.16 in the 200-yard backstroke while Moore posted a time of 1:48.62 in the 200-yard butterfly.
In the final event of the meet, the Cardinals took second in the 400-yard freestyle relay. They finished in a season best time of 2:58.24.
The Cardinals are back in action on January 5 at University of San Diego.
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