SMU Classic Day Two

The second and final night of the Classic @ SMU wrapped up much the same way it began: with the Texas All-Stars shattering meet and pool records, one after the other. The Mustangs had another great outing, winning second place in five events and qualifying for NCAA consideration in four events.

The 200 medley relay team  picked up a second-place finish and an NCAA consideration time of 1:28.18, kicking off the night for SMU. The Texas All-Stars finished the event in 1:26.77, setting a new meet and pool record. Renholm then turned around and swam the 200 back in 1:46.98, taking second-place and picking up NCAA consideration. Olympic gold medalist and Texas All-Star Aaron Peirsol picked up the win in the 200 back, setting a new pool and meet record of 1:39.78. Vrtovec won second in the 100 free, clocking a time of 44.32, just one second behind TAS Garrett Weber-Gale, but good for NCAA consideration. Wrapping up the evening, the Mustangs (Vrtovec, Fadnes, Shane Milu <http://smumustangs.cstv.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/milu_shane00.html>  and Renholm) took second in the 200 free relay, touching in at 1:20.51, over three-tenths of a second inside the NCAA consideration cut. Meanwhile, the All-Stars set yet another pool and meet record, shaving three one-hundredths of a second off the previous record, finishing in 1:19.71.

In the 500 free, Maverick Smalley <http://smumustangs.cstv.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/smalley_maverick00.html>  finished fourth in 4:31.19, while TAS Dave Cromwell set a new meet and pool record of 4:16.86. In the consolation final of the 200 free, Nate Clark <http://smumustangs.cstv.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/clark_nate00.html>  finished just five seconds behind Peirsol, stopping the clock at 4:27.62, just out of NCAA consideration. The consolation final of the 200 breast saw TAS Eric Shanteau set a new meet and pool record of 1:56.37, while Mustang Mitchell Johnson <http://smumustangs.cstv.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/johnson_mitchell00.html>  touched in at 2:03.48, good for second in the consols. In the championship final, Hetland again matched up with Brendan Hansen. Hetland again led Hansen through the first 50, but Hansen outpaced Hetland and immediately set another new pool and meet record of 1:54.00. Hetland finished second, stopping the clock at 2:01.72.


After the first four swimming events, the divers took to the three-meter board for their six dives. Mustang Matthew Culbertson <http://smumustangs.cstv.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/culbertson_matthew00.html>  took third, tallying 279.85. Arizona State's Billy Sweeny won the first and only event for the Sun Devils with 327.90.

The 200 fly saw another record fall to the All-Stars. Ian Crocker set the pool and meet record of 1:43.34. Clark took fifth for the Mustangs, finishing in 1:50.58. In the 200 IM, Shanteau set yet another pool and meet record, stopping the clock at 1:45.49. Hetland completed the race in third place, touching in at 1:50.47.

The Texas All-Stars won the meet, scoring 370 points. SMU placed second with 300, Arizona State took third with 251.5, while Northwestern finished fourth with 247.5 and USC rounded out the contest. Ian Crocker was awarded Swimmer of the Meet and Sweeny of ASU was awarded Diver of the Meet. When the team trophy was presented to the Texas All-Stars, the team opted to present the trophy to the SMU Mustangs as a show of sportsmanship and appreciation for their strong second-place finish.

"I would have said that it would be hard to top Friday night here at the Natatorium," said Mustangs head coach Eddie Sinnott <http://smumustangs.cstv.com/sports/m-swim/mtt/sinnott_eddie00.html> . "But I think we did. The guys put on a great show, we had a bigger attendance number and the teams swam well. All the coaches were very happy with the meet and the Texas All-Stars were just outstanding. These guys are class acts, and I was impressed that they honored us by giving back the trophy. Hopefully this meet will kick-start future Classic meets to be even bigger. We're excited to see how this meet grows over the next few years."

The Mustangs are off next weekend, but are back in action Jan. 25 as they travel to face cross-town rival TCU at Ft. Worth. For the complete schedule and results, log on to www.SMUMustangs.com <http://www.smumustangs.com/>