GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (Feb. 12, 2022) –
Victor Rosado,
Brandon Heredia and
J.T. Amrein added to Oklahoma Christian's impressive haul of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's swimming event titles as the RMAC Championships closed on Saturday at El Pomar Natatorium.
Rosado took the 1,650-yard freestyle, Heredia the 100 freestyle and Amrein the 200 breaststroke, giving the Eagles nine of the 21 event titles in the four-day meet after winning only three combined in the program's first four seasons of existence.
In the team race, No. 17-ranked OC finished third among four squads with 795.5 points, behind meet host and No. 4 Colorado Mesa (1,225) and No. 21 Colorado School of Mines (874.5). Mesa won 11 event titles, Mines only one.
Rosado, a freshman from St. Petersburg, Fla., was named as the meet's outstanding swimmer after winning titles in all three distance events – the 500 freestyle, the 1,000 freestyle and the 1,650 freestyle. He's automatically qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships next month in Greensboro, N.C., in the 1,000 and likely will be in the field for the other two events, too.
Amrein, a freshman from Bonner Springs, Kan., also won three events at the meet, taking the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley in addition to the 200 breaststroke, while Heredia, a junior from Maryville, Mo., won both the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle. They'll also likely be at the national meet, as will a handful of OC's relay teams, one of which (in the 800 freestyle relay) won the RMAC crown.
The Eagles should learn this week exactly how many of their swimmers have qualified for the national meet and the events in which they'll be able to compete.
On Saturday, Rosado started the Eagles strong in the 1,650 freestyle, leading a 1-4-5 finish by OC swimmers. Rosado's time of 15:45.58 met the Division II B time standard and, when adjusted for altitude to 15:25.58, ranks fourth in Division II this season. It also shattered the former school record of 16:00.15, set by
Chase Fields last November in the Eagle Invitational in Edmond, Okla.
Fields, a freshman from Tyler, Texas, took fourth on Saturday with a time of 16:13.84 (15:53.84 altitude-adjusted), while junior
Andrew Ehler of Oak Point, Texas, was fifth in 16:17.81 (15:57.81 altitude-adjusted). Both also met the Division II B time standard.
Heredia followed by winning the next event, the 100 freestyle, in 43.91 seconds. His altitude-adjusted time of 43.81 seconds ranks ninth in Division II and broke his own school record of 44.34 seconds, which had stood since the 2019 RMAC meet. OC freshman
Dereck Montgomery of Rosenberg, Texas, won the B final in 100 freestyle in 45.78 seconds.
Amrein won the 200 breaststroke by a whopping 4.83 seconds with a time of 1:56.42, setting a pool record in the process. His altitude-adjusted time of 1:55.22 is the best this season in Division II and broke his own school record of 1:55.91, set in November in the Eagle Invitational.
Two other OC freshmen posted high finishes in the event –
Lorenzo Tabladini of Castenedolo, Italy, was fourth in 2:02.92, with
Felix Berling of Meppen, Germany, fifth in 2:03.41. Senior
Zac Hawes of Houston, the RMAC's 2020 champion in the event, finished 11th in 2:08.26.
Ehler was the only OC swimmer to qualify for the A final in the 200 backstroke and placed seventh in 1:54.39 (1:53.19 altitude-adjusted).
The Eagles might have qualified for the national meet in the RMAC meet's final event, the 400 freestyle relay. OC's squad of Amrein, Heredia,
Caleb Musser and Montgomery finished second in 2:59.00, with the altitude-adjusted time of 2:58.60 ranking 13th in Division II. It's also a new school record, snapping the mark of 3:01.22 set at the Eagle Invitational by the same four swimmers.
