| Miner swim team earns nationally highest place ever for any Missouri S&T athletic team |
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| Written by Dana Narconis | |
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Missouri University of Science and Technology had an incredible showing at the NCAA Division II national swim meet in Columbia, Missouri. The team finished an outstanding second place in the nation after coming into the final day as a fourth place seed! This was the highest finish the Miners have ever seen in any national competition the history of our school. The second place finish earned Coach Doug Grooms the National Coach of the Year award from the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. Among the many, top finishes for the Miner’s, freshman Zlatan Hamzic of Panceva, Serbia had a second place showing in the 200-yard breaststroke with a school record of 1:58.55. He finished behind Seattle’s Jakub Jiracek who only added to his NCAA Division II national championships, now totaling eleven. Missouri S&T was honored with two fifth place finishes from senior and Bloomington, Illinois native, Matt Hug in the 1,650-yard freestyle and sophomore of Madrid, Spain, David Sanchez-Turner in the 100-yard freestyle. They finished with times of 15:38.92 and 44.90 seconds, respectively. Freshman Jeff Enge of Edmond, Oklahoma furthered the Miners success with a sixth place finish and a school record in the 200-yard backstroke. In addition to Enge, junior Kyle Kammer of Williamsburg, Virginia and freshman Aaron Schmidt of O’Fallon, Illinois, also set school records in the same event. All three finished among the top eight with times under 1:50. Schmidt actually set the record first in the preliminaries, with a time of 1:49.54. No Miner swimmer had broken into the 1:50’s prior to Saturday. Kammer finished seventh in the finals with a time of 1:49.72, as Schmidt reached the wall milliseconds later in 1:49.93. Junior David Calcara of Olympia, Washington gave Missouri S&T a seventh place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:04.31. Freshman Kyle Gordon of Superior, Colorado and sophomore Andrew Trowbridge of Arlington, Texas, obtained points in the consolation finals of the 100-yard freestyle and the 1,650-yard freestyle, respectively. The Miners 400-yard freestyle relay team of Gordon, senior Mark Chamberlain of Lake Jackson, Texas, Hug, and Sanchez-Turner finished in eighth place with a time of 3:03.90, unfortunately a second short of their season personal record of 3:02.30. With the conclusion of the NCAA Division II national swim meet, the Miners of Missouri S&T set nine school records in the Mizzou Aquatics Center. After an incredibly successful season, we wish the Miners luck in the seasons to come and hope that they will only build upon this tremendous achievement. |
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