The second day of the Dallas Morning News Swimming and Diving Classic proved to be just as exciting as the previous Classics as swimmers and teams continued to topple records. The first four events of the night resulted in new meet and pool records and combined with the rest of the records broken throughout the night and on day one, this years Classic has proven to be the fastest DMN Classic in the 25 years of its existence.
For the first time in history, Northwestern won the meet with a score of 359 and Cal placed second, scoring 334. The Mustangs finished third with a score of 305 while Florida St. finished fourth (131). (Florida St. was not able to compete on the second day of competition due to the weather.)
In the 200 medley relay Northwestern held on for the win as they clocked in at 1:26.97, becoming the current pool and meet record holders. The Wildcats broke the previous pool and meet record which they set at the DMN Classic last year. The SMU relay team of Ian Clark, Alex Hetland, Luka Vrtovec and Thomas Fadness finished third with a time of 1:29.26 which ties with the Mustang's season-best 200 medley relay time.
In the 500 free, Eric Nilsson of Northwestern and Dominik Meichtry of Cal swam a pretty even race till the last stretch when Meichtry pulled ahead for the win with a time of 4:19.26, setting a new pool and meet record. For the Mustangs, Maverick Smalley placed third with a career-best time of 4:33.70 and Shane Milu swam a season-best time of 4:39.61 for fifth-place.
Continuing the shattering of records, Mike Alexandrov of Northwestern defended his 200 breast DMN title from last year when he set a new pool and meet record with a time of 1:57.07. SMU's Hetland followed in second-place with a time of 2:01.19 while Justin Smith finished sixth with a time of 2:08.70.
Defending 200 back champion, Matt Grevers of Northwestern took the title again with a new pool and meet record time of 1:41.55. For the Mustangs, Clark posted a career-best time of 1:45.70 for third place while Pontus Renholm placed sixth with a time of 1:50.48.
In the three-meter diving event, Sam Helvie of Cal took first-place with a score of 381.15 and SMU's Preston Holcombe placed second as he combined for a season-high final score of 349.35.
In the 100 free, Kyle Bubolz of Northwestern finished first with a time of 44.01. For SMU, Vrtovec followed in second-place, stopping the clock at 44.49 and Fadnes placed fifth with a time of 45.29.
Patrick O'Neil of Cal won the 200 fly with a time of 1:46.75. For the Mustangs, Smith finished third as he touched in with a season-best at 1:49.45 and Renholm placed sixth with a time of 1:54.68.
Northwestern's Alexandrov won the 200 IM and again set a new pool and meet record as he clocked in at 1:47.13. Clark swam a season-best time of 1:48.69 for second-place and Hetland swam a time of 1:48.96 for third-place for the Mustangs.
Another record fell in the final event of the night as Northwestern took first-place in the 200 free relay and set a new meet and pool record with a time of 1:19.74. The Mustang relay team of Vrtovec, Milu, Fadnes and Smalley combined for a third-place finish and time of 1:21.47.
The high point swimmer of the meet was awarded to Alexandrov of Northwestern and the high point diver was Helvie of Cal.
The Mustangs will travel to Austin, Jan. 19 to take on Arizona at noon and then will meet up with Texas on Jan. 20 at 7:00 p.m.
