KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The University of the Incarnate Word men's and women's swim and dive team wrapped up the penultimate day of the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) Championship, tacking on several more wins and additional broken program records. The men are maintaining their first-place position with 587.5 points, and the women stand third with 664.5 points.
CARDINALS REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS
Kristen Straszacker came to compete in day three, taking on the 100 back preliminary heat in the morning session and setting a UIW program record with a time of 55.65. Straszacker wasn't done though, knocking off even more time and once again breaking the school record to finish third in the A Final with a time of 54.63. This stunning time landed Straszacker a third-place medal.
Sophomore
Sophie Taylor set a new UIW record in the women's 100 butterfly with a time of 54.55.
The women's 400 medley relay squad of Straszacker,
Mariana Ruvalcaba Cruz, Taylor and
Ximena Conde set a new program record time of 3:45.19.
DAY THREE FOR THE CARDINALS
The Cardinal men's squad of
Erek Nelson,
Oleksandr Karpenko, Wallace and
Christopher Lestage swooped in and powered through the 400 medley relay, winning in a strong time of 3:13.80.
In the 400 IM, Conde pushed through to nab a third-place spot in finals with a time of 4:20.82. On the men's side,
Alex Garriga took second with a strong time of 3:56.34.
Coming in as the victor of the finals in the men's 200 freestyle,
Leonardo Sanchez was crowned the back-to-back winner of the event, taking first again in the evening finals with a time of 1:36.00. Teammates
Alvaro Ibarra (1:38.52),
Norbert Aranyi (1:39.13),
Christopher Lestage (1:42.47) and
Oscar Cardenas (1:42.73) came in after to finish out the finals.
For the women's side of the 200 freestyle,
Hannah Rowley busted out a strong 1:52.01 in the evening session.
After six rounds of diving,
Ana Lucia Garza concluded the day's 1M competition and narrowly took fourth with a point total of 257.90.
Mariana Ruvalcaba Cruz's work in the women's 100 breast landed her third in the A Final, going 1:03.49.
Marissa Watters came in shortly after at 1:08.54.
Oleksandr Karpenko held it down for the men in the 100 breast to win gold over the competition with an official time of 53.44.
Jon Taylor swam a 56.71 in the event's finals session.
After each of them put up personal best times in the morning prelims of the men's 100 backstroke,
Erek Nelson and
Fernando Ruvalcaba Cruz went second and third in the finals, touching in 48.37 and 48.93, respectively.
Bryce Kuchan went 50.01 in the event. On the women's side,
Natasha Fung (56.89) and
Christina Vergara (57.82) tallied points for UIW in addition to Straszacker's boost.
For the day's 100 fly events,
Jared Wallace swam a strong 47.71, while teammates
Bryce Kuchan (47.97),
Fernando Ruvalcaba Cruz (49.53) and
Garrett Hollcroft (49.83) came in after for Cardinal points. On the women's side,
Lauren Gray (56.75),
Annie Kramer (56.72) and
Marissa Watters (57.99) competed in finals with strong swims.
DAY FOUR SCHEDULE
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.
Follow the team on Twitter @UIWSwimAndDive and on Instagram @uiwswimanddive.
