LEWISVILLE, Texas (Feb. 14, 2019) –
Bergen Davis became Oklahoma Christian's first-ever conference medalist and three other OC swimmers qualified for A finals on Thursday on the second day of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships at the Lewisville Westside Aquatic Center.
Davis, a freshman from Juneau, Alaska, had the top qualifying time in the 400-yard individual medley in the morning, swimming a time of 4:02.98. He improved his time to a school-record 4:02.29 in the final, but was jumped by Jonathan Donehower of Colorado Mines, who posted a time of 3:58.12.
Even so, Davis earned a silver medal, a significant first for OC's second-year program, and will be the Eagles' first first-team All-RMAC honoree when those teams are announced later this month. The 400 IM record entering the day was 4:11.41, which Davis swam earlier this season in the Tiger Invitational in San Antonio.
Also reaching the 400 IM A final was OC sophomore
Zac Hawes of Houston, who placed sixth in 4:07.52. Sophomore
Andrew Assaleh of Oklahoma City swam in the B final, placing 12th in 4:21.60.
Making the A final in the 100 butterfly was OC sophomore
Kurt Gscheidle of Lantana, Texas. In the prelims, he set a school record of 50.12 seconds, then swam 51.27 seconds to place eighth in the final. He held the former record of 50.30 seconds, set in last year's RMAC Championships.
Ryan Jennings, a sophomore from Keller, Texas, reached the B final in the 100 butterly and was 15th in 51.26 seconds.
Three Eagles reached finals in the 200 freestyle, led by
Gavin Lane. The freshman from Clovis, Calif., made the A final and finished seventh in 1:42.93, after setting a school record with a time of 1:41.65 in the prelims, tying with teammate
Derek Duckworth. Duckworth, a sophomore from New Braunfels, Texas, ended up in the B final and was 13th in 1:43.02, three spots ahead of OC sophomore
Caleb Brown of New Braunfels, whose time was 1:45.72.
The former 200 freestyle mark was 1:45.05, which Lane swam in the Tiger Invitational.
OC teams placed third and set school records in both relay events Thursday. In the 200 freestyle relay, the foursome of Duckworth,
Brandon Heredia, Gscheidle and
Griffen Cornell finished in 1:22.70, shattering the old mark of 1:26.01, set by Duckworth, Gscheidle,
Noah Woollweever and Lane at the Tiger Invitational. On Thursday, Duckworth's opening leg of 20.45 seconds also set an OC mark in the 50 freestyle, breaking his day-old record of 20.53 seconds.
OC's quartet of Woollweever, Hawes, Gscheidle and Heredia posted a time of 3:18.87 in the 400 medley relay, lowering the school record by nearly eight seconds. Woollweever, Hawes, Gscheidle and Duckworth swam 3:26.83 at the Tiger Invitational this season.
On Friday, swimmers will compete in the 100 individual medley, 500 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke, 200 butterfly and 800 freestyle relay.
