EDMOND, Okla. (Nov. 13, 2021) – There is no denying it now – Oklahoma Christian swimmers J.T. Amrein and Brandon Heredia will have the proverbial targets on their backs going forward in their collegiate careers.

For the third time in as many days, Amrein posted the top time in NCAA Division II in an event – this time in the 200-yard breaststroke – and Heredia recorded a 100 freestyle time that ranks second nationally on the final day of OC's Eagle Invitational on Saturday at the Mitch Park YMCA pool.

Two other OC swimmers – Chase Fields in the 1,650 freestyle and Caleb Musser in the 100 freestyle – also posted Division II B qualifying times as the Eagles swept to the meet title. OC rolled up 1,344 points to easily outdistance the runner-up, Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) with 762. Barton (Kan.) Community College was third with 726 points, with Texas-Permian Basin last in the four-team field with 470 points.

Heredia, a junior from Maryville, Mo., swam a time of 44.42 seconds in the 100 freestyle, which ranks only behind Elliott Irvin of Lindenwood (Mo.), whose top time this season is 44.31 seconds. Musser finished behind Heredia in 45.23 seconds but still also met the B-cut standard of 45.42 seconds.

Earlier in the meet, Heredia recorded Division II's top time of the season in the 200 freestyle, a 1:37.83.

Amrein, a freshman from Bonner Springs, Kan., posted Division II's top 200 individual medley time (1:47.68) on Thursday, then did the same Friday in the 100 breaststroke (53.08 seconds). He put on a clinic in the 200 breaststroke final on Saturday, as his time of 1:55.91 put him a whopping 6.68 seconds ahead of the race runner-up.

He not only posted a B qualifying time, he came close to the A (automatic) qualifying standard of 1:55.12. The previous fastest time this season in Division II was 1:56.58 by Filipe Pinheiro of McKendree (Ill.). Amrein's time also was more than four seconds better than the previous school record of 2:00.25, set by current OC senior Zac Hawes in the 2020 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships.

Fields, a freshman from Tyler, Texas, recorded a B qualifying time in the 1,650 freestyle, winning in a school-record time of 16:00.15. The person whose record he broke, junior Andrew Ehler of Oak Point, Texas, took second in 16:14.73. Ehler's former record of 16:10.41 came in the 2020 RMAC Championships.

The Eagles finished 2-3 in the 200 backstroke with freshman Quinn Mauck of Dripping Springs, Texas (1:52.73) and Ehler (1:53.67), respectively. Sophomore Elijah Tung of Columbia, S.C., took second in the 200 butterfly in 1:50.49.

OC closed the meet by posting a school-record time of 3:01.22 while winning the 400 freestyle relay. The OC quartet of Amrein, Musser, freshman Dereck Montgomery of Rosenberg, Texas, and Heredia snapped the former record of 3:03.64, set by Derek Duckworth, Heredia, Kurt Gscheidle and Ryan Jennings in the 2019 RMAC Championships.

The Eagles now will have an extended break before resuming their season on Jan. 7-8 in San Antonio with a pair of duals meets at Trinity (Texas) and NCAA Division I Incarnate Word, respectively.

Coach Josh Davis discusses the meet: https://youtu.be/QBIqCQdkRrA

Meet video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FV4Y3fm_Yqs

200-yard breaststroke race: https://youtu.be/oAqGK3tcMYs

100-yard freestyle race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7onhFZOtnc