UIW swimming and diving celebrates seniors with strong home results

SAN ANTONIO -- Hyped up and ready to defend its home pool, the University of the Incarnate Word men and women swimming and diving teams showed out on Saturday, with the men downing Texas Christian University, 172-90, and the women narrowly getting edged out by the University of North Texas and TCU's respective scores of 162 and 160 to rack up 137 points.
The Cardinals honed their focus to swim for their graduating seniors, who were recognized prior to the meet for their years of diligence and contributions to the program.

CARDINALS PROTECT THE NEST
Relays began and ended the meet day with excitement. Both the men and women struck gold in the morning's 200 Medley relays. The women's squad of Natasha Fung, Mariana Ruvalcaba Cruz, Cassandra Phillips and Kaylee Brawner led the pack to finish first in a time of 1:45.24. For the men, it was Aaron Moran, Oleksandr Karpenko, Hector Ruvalcaba Cruz and Carter Wallace who topped the heat, taking first in a time of 1:32.02.

The day's final relay, 200 Freestyle, saw the UIW men of C. Wallace, Moran, Christopher Lestage and Beau Fusilier fighting through the entirety, with Fusilier completing his leg of the relay in just 20.95 to cut the deficit edged by TCU's relay and grab the top spot with a time of 1:24.37, a thrilling .09 seconds ahead of second place. For the women's 200 Freestyle relay, Phillips, Brawner, Miller and Magda Vega Vidal narrowly missed second, touching third with a finals time of 1:38.93.

Junior diver Dawson Martinez topped the men's competition in 1M and 3M with booming scores of 319.85 and 349.60. On the women's side, Kaylee Frantzen was UIW's top scorer for 1M with 237.15. 3M diving for the women highlighted the skill of UIW's Valencia McDonald, who excelled to secure second with 269.40 points.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?
Sergio Duran Mata, new to the nest on the Cardinals roster as a transfer from Mexico's team, comfortably took first in the men's 1650 Freestyle with a time of 15:54.88, nearly a quarter of a minute faster that his opponents. Duran Mata was joined by teammate H. Ruvalcaba Cruz at the top of the leaderboard in the men's 500 Freestyle, pushing each other through the laps to ultimately find H. Ruvalcaba Cruz first with a time of 4:36.34, Duran Mata second in 4:37.17. Hannah Rowley, a consistently strong swimmer, proved as much in the women's 1650 Freestyle as she held through to finish third in the heat with a finals time of 17:53.43. Rowley again took third in the women's 500 Freestyle with a time of 5:08.64.

A family tradition, the Ruvalcaba Cruz siblings again proved their name and took first in the men's and women's 400 IM, with Hector dominating by over four seconds to finish in 4:02.83, while Mariana similarly showed out for the Cardinals to finish in a finals time of 4:29.92.

Two more golds were added to UIW's daily collection in 100 Breaststroke, with M. Ruvalcaba Cruz leading the women to dominate in 1:03.93, while Karpenko edged out the men to snag first in 57.03. Jon Taylor of UIW came just after Karpenko for the men to place third with a finals time of 58.41. Hungry for more, M. Ruvalcaba Cruz and Karpenko took first yet again in the women's and men's 200 Breaststroke, with respective times of 2:19.96 and 2:04.51.

KEEP THE W IN UIW
Leonardo Sanchez and senior Beau Fusilier were neck and neck during the men's 200 Freestyle, but in the end it was Sanchez who grabbed first in 1:41.32, with Fusilier taking second, in 1:41.69. Another a close race on the women's side, it was Hailey Miller who was narrowly edged out her competitors to take second in the 200 Freestyle, with a time of 1:54.40. Miller later snagged a third-place finish in the women's 200 Backstroke with a strong time of 2:07.10.

The men's 100 Backstroke saw seniors Aaron Moran and Vladyslav Chumak grind out a closely-packed heat, topping the rest of the field to take first and second with respective times of 50.36 and 50.89. Men's 200 Backstroke saw Moran and Chumak take fourth and fifth, going 1:51.41 and 1:54.58. Natasha Fung led the Cardinal women in the 100 Backstroke, taking fifth with a time of 59.65.

Coming back in the final 50 of the women's 200 Butterfly, Phillips secured a first-place position above the competition in a time of 2:06.24. Peyton Roemer and Taylor Steele touched after to take fourth and fifth in 2:08.58 and 2:10.47, respectively. Back at it, Phillips also took first in the women's 100 Butterfly with a finals time of 56.48. H. Ruvalcaba Cruz stopped at nothing to secure first in the men's 200 Butterfly, touching in 1:48.92. Bryce Kuchan came in just after to take second in 1:51.74. It was Kuchan, however, who showed out in the men's 100 Butterfly, taking first in 50.15. Senior Roberto Pinedo came in a fraction of a second behind to finish second in 50.76.

The men's 50 Freestyle is consistently a tight-packed race for sprinters, with the range of finishing times coming just seconds apart. Despite the fierce competiton, senior Carter Wallace busted out a finals time of 21.15 to grab first place. Christopher Lestage followed suit right behind his upperclassman, taking second in 21.27. C. Wallace would then fight through in the men's 100 Freestyle to sprint into second with a time of 46.49. Sanchez took third in this event coming in right after in 46.69.

HEAR FROM COACH DAVIS
"I'm so proud of our seniors and how they put a great final stamp on their careers as Cardinals today. They have logged a lot of miles, and many splashes in that pool! The crowd was great, the meet was packed with excitement, on the boards and in the pool!
We are in great shape moving into the Championship segment! We need to get a few people back from injury, but when we do, we will be a factor in each meet we compete in."

UP NEXT
The Cardinals face their final dual meet before the CCSA Championships, with the men and women squads slated at Southern Methodist University for pre-conference time trials on Feb. 9 in Dallas. Meet start time is TBD.

FOLLOW ALONG
For the most up-to-date information on UIW Athletics, visit uiwcardinals.com, follow the Cardinals on Twitter @UIWAthletics and like UIW Athletics on Facebook at UIW Athletics.

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Players Mentioned

Vladyslav Chumak: BK/FR; Senior

Beau Fusilier: BCK/IM; 6' 4"; Senior

Bryce Kuchan: BCK/FLY; 5' 9"; Junior

Christopher Lestage: FR/BCK; 6' 0"; Junior

Dawson Martinez: DIVER; 5' 6"; Junior

Aaron Moran: BCK/IM; 5' 9"; Senior

Roberto Pinedo: FLY/FR; 5' 9"; Senior

Hector Ruvalcaba Cruz: FR/IM; 5' 10"; Junior

Jon Taylor: BR/IM; 6' 0"; Junior

Carter Wallace: FR/FLY; 6' 0"; Senior

Players Mentioned

Vladyslav Chumak
: Senior
: BK/FR

Beau Fusilier
: 6' 4"; Senior
: BCK/IM

Bryce Kuchan
: 5' 9"; Junior
: BCK/FLY

Christopher Lestage
: 6' 0"; Junior
: FR/BCK

Dawson Martinez
: 5' 6"; Junior
: DIVER

Aaron Moran
: 5' 9"; Senior
: BCK/IM

Roberto Pinedo
: 5' 9"; Senior
: FLY/FR

Hector Ruvalcaba Cruz
: 5' 10"; Junior
: FR/IM

Jon Taylor
: 6' 0"; Junior
: BR/IM

Carter Wallace
: 6' 0"; Senior
: FR/FLY