EDMOND, Okla. (Sept. 25, 2021) – Freshman
J.T. Amrein won two individual events (setting a school record in one of them) and was a part of two winning relay teams to lead Oklahoma Christian on Saturday in the season-opening Sam Freas Invitational at the Mitch Park YMCA pool.
OC was the dominant team among the eight entered in the meet, winning seven events, with the other seven squads combining for seven event wins. Barton (Kan.) Community College was the only other team to win more than one event, taking four.
Amrein, a freshman from Bonner Springs, Kan., won the 100-yard breaststroke in 55.74 seconds, just .24 off the current school record held by senior
Zac Hawes of Houston. Amrein did break the school record in the 100 individual medley, finishing in 52.19 seconds.
Kurt Gscheidle held the former record of 52.46 seconds, set in the 2020 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships.
Amrein swam the second leg on OC's 200 medley relay team, joining senior
Noah Woollweever of Beckley, W.Va., sophomore
Elijah Tung of Columbia, S.C., and junior
Brandon Heredia of Maryville, Mo., in winning in 1:33.95. Amrein led off the 400 freestyle relay team that won in 3:08.75, and he was joined by Heredia, freshman
Caleb Musser of Overland Park., Kan., and Tung.
Heredia, one of the top sprinters in NCAA Division II, won the 100 freestyle in 46.97 seconds and took second in the 50 freestyle in 21.18 seconds. Musser took home top honors in the 200 freestyle in 1:44.74.
Tung was the Eagles' other event winner, prevailing in the 100 butterfly in 51.14 seconds.
"J.T. set the school record and
Elijah Tung had some very nice swims," OC coach
Josh Davis said. "This meet is a good marker. Now we've got some things to work on. I think we'll be very motivated to get back to work and fine-tune some things. … It's still relatively early in the season. We still have seven more weeks to go before our big meet here, the Eagle Invitational (in November)."
The Eagles' next meet will be Oct. 8, when they will compete in a dual at Henderson State (Ark.). The day after that, they'll visit Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) for a dual. Both those schools are located in Arkadelphia, Ark.
Josh Davis discusses the meet:
https://youtu.be/wJASqmrF9yw
