Men swimmers match all-time best showing

Event Results   Team Results  COLUMBUS, Ga. – Wayland Baptist's men matched last year's all-time best team finish of sixth place as the NAIA Swimming and Diving National Championships came to a close after four days of competition. The WBU women, ranked sixth before a roster reduction just before nationals, wound up in 19^th place.

"It was a good meet," Wayland coach Alyson Hannan said. "We had to deal with some adversity right before nationals, so I thought they did well. We'll have to work a little harder next year and crack the top five."

Hannan said Friday the men's team, ranked fourth coming in, could finish anywhere from fourth to seventh. They wound up sixth with 265 points, just ahead of Thomas, Ga., with 258. Lindenwood-Belleville, Ill., took fifth with 298 points while Cumberland, Tenn., was fourth with 321½.

Olivet Nazarene, Ill., won both the men's and women's team titles with Savannah College of Art and Design taking second.

Senior Josiah Morales wrapped up his collegiate career with two fourth-place finishes in the 200 butterfly (1:52.63) and as part of the 400 freestyle relay team (3:04.36). Joining him on that team were Hugo Gallegos , Henri Guenther and Mihovil Bakovic, who was seventh in the 200 fly (1:53.23).

Morales earned seven top-six finishes, placing second, third and fourth individually with two fourths, a fifth and a sixth in relays. He earned all-American honors (top three) by virtue of taking second in the 100 fly and third in the 50 free.

Also Saturday, Bjoern Globke, also a senior, took fourth in the 200 breaststroke (2:03.62), a race in which Dillon Frazier was 10^th (2:06.38). Gallegos was 14^th in the 100 free (46.57) and William Ruiz-Rojas 11^th in the 200 backstroke (1:52.37).

Swimming Saturday's finals for the WBU women were freshman Andrea Bond, who won the consolation 100 freestyle to place ninth overall (52.79), and Ayrial Hiracheta, who just missed scoring points in the 1,650 freestyle by placing 17th (18:51.30).

"The women did a great job," Hannan said. "We had a lot to deal with this year. The five girls who were here really stepped up and did what I sked of them."

Hannan already is anxious to see what 2017-18 holds for WBU swimming.

"We're looking forward to next year."