LEWISVILLE, Texas (Feb. 13, 2019) –
Derek Duckworth became the first Oklahoma Christian individual swimmer to earn All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference honors and five school records fell on the first day of the RMAC Championships on Wednesday at the Lewisville Westside Aquatic Center.
Duckworth, a sophomore from New Braunfels, Texas, joined teammate
Brandon Heredia in qualifying for the A final in the 50-yard freestyle. Heredia, a freshman from Maryville, Mo. was fifth in the preliminary round in a school-record 20.58 seconds, with Duckworth a spot behind in 20.64 seconds.
But in the final, Duckworth jumped into a tie for fourth, breaking Heredia's short-lived record with a time of 20.53 seconds. The fourth-place finish should put Duckworth on the All-RMAC second-team list when that is announced later this month. Heredia, who set the previous OC 50 freestyle mark of 20.93 seconds at the TYR Elite Meet in Edmond earlier this season, finished seventh in 20.72 seconds.
Duckworth and Heredia became the first OC swimmers ever to meet the NCAA's B standard qualifying time in any event.
Kurt Gscheidle, a sophomore from Lantana, Texas, swam in the 50 freestyle B final and was 14th in 21.14 seconds.
In the 200 individual medley, freshman
Bergen Davis from Juneau, Alaska, made the A final and placed fifth, setting an OC record with a time of 1:52.13 after swimming a 1:52.69 in the prelims. That shattered his former school record of 1:55.36, set at the TYR Elite Meet.
Zac Hawes, a sophomore from Houston, won the 200 IM B final in 1:52.88 while
Ryan Jennings, a sophomore from Keller, Texas, also made the B final and placed 15th in 1:56.11.
OC's top finisher in the 1,000 freestyle was
Andrew Ehler, whose time of 9:41.21 gave him a 10th-place finish and obliterated the former OC mark of 10:02.15, set at last year's RMAC meet by
Caleb Brown. Also placing top-16 finishes in the event were Brown (12th in 9:50.85) and
Jimmy Burke (13th in 9:54.04).
The Eagles put on a spectacular performance in the 200 medley relay. Sophomore
Noah Woollweever of Beckley, W.Va., began the race with a 50-yard backstroke leg of 22.72 seconds to set a school record, and Hawes (breaststroke), Gscheidle (butterfly) and Duckworth (freestyle) also swam well, giving the Eagles a third-place finish in 1:29.80.
That broke the OC record of 1:32.29, set by the same quartet at the Tiger Invitational in San Antonio earlier this season, and should earn the team All-RMAC second-team honors.
The meet schedule for Thursday includes races in the 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle and 400 medley relay.
