From Emory University Athletics
The Emory University Men's Swimming & Diving team opened competition at the Miami and SCAD Invitationals on Thursday on a high note as the Eagles posted 10 NCAA qualifying times and saw three school records fall including a pair of Division III records.
After one day of swimming, the Eagles sit in second place at the Miami Invite with 254.5 points, trailing first place Denison (295.5) while Emory finds itself with 114 points and in fifth place at the SCAD Invitational.
Senior Christian Baker began the highlights with his first place showing in the 500 Free. Baker swam a NCAA "A" Cut time of 4:21.43, breaking the previous school, meet and pool records in the process. Baker had previously owned the school record in the event with his time of 4:22.88 that he recorded at last year's NCAA Championships.
Classmate Andrew Wilson followed suit in the 200 IM, posting a time of 1:45.57 to win the event. Wilson's time broke his own school record of 1:46.23 that he set back at the 2015 NCAA Championships. Wilson's mark also represented a new Division III record, besting Denison's Jack Lindell's previous mark of 1:46.00. Lindell finished second tonight in the event with a time of 1:48.66.
Wilson and Baker were not finished on the evening as the duo teamed with freshman Sage Ono and junior Oliver Smith to set a new Division III record in the 400 Medley Relay, posting a time of 3:13.03. The previous Division III record was 3:13.49 set by Williams College in 2015.
Smith added two more first place finishes on the evening in the 50 Free and was part of the 200 Free Relay. In the 50 Free, Smith swam the second fastest time in school history in the finals, touching at 19.65 and in the 200 Free Relay, the quartet of Smith, sophomore Trey Kolleck and juniors Alexander Hardwick and Aaron Schwartz set a new meet record, swimming a NCAA "B" Cut time of 1:20.42.
Other notable finishes on Thursday were junior Henry Copses in the 500 Free (4th, 4:29.02 – NCAA "B" Cut), Kolleck in the 50 Free (3rd, 20.61 – NCAA "B" Cut), senior Mitchell Cooper who finished seventh in the finals of the 200 IM and swam a NCAA "B" Cut time of 1:50.94 during preliminaries, and sophomore Thomas Gordon with an eighth place finish in the 500 Free while swimming a NCAA "B" Cut time of 4:31.00 in prelims.
At the SCAD Invite, sophomore Jonathan Morse was the lone Eagle to record a NCAA qualifying time on the evening, swimming a B cut mark of 4:33.89 in a third place finish in the 500 Free.