GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (Feb. 9, 2022) – Only three Oklahoma Christian swimmers had won an individual Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference event title in the program's first four seasons. The Eagles produced two more champs Wednesday, with one of those coming in an eye-popping performance.
On the opening day of the RMAC Championships at El Pomar Natatorium, OC freshman
Victor Rosado continued his rapid climb in the NCAA Division II ranks, winning the 1,000-yard freestyle and becoming the first Division II swimmer this season to post an A (automatic) qualifying time in the event. He's now headed to next month's national meet in Greensboro, N.C.
He'll likely be joined by fellow freshman
J.T. Amrein, who – in the event immediately following Rosado's dominating performance – took the 200 individual medley title with the fifth-best time in Division II this season. Amrein also was a part of a 200 freestyle relay team that finished second and posted the 13th-best time in Division II for 2021-22.
The 17th-ranked Eagles, who set school records in all those events, stood third in the four-team race after the first day with 196 points. They trailed meet host and No. 4-ranked Colorado Mesa (323.5) and No. 21 Colorado School of Mines (224.5). OC was well ahead of Adams State (Colo.) (51).
Rosado, from St. Petersburg, Fla., joined the OC squad at the semester break and the RMAC Championships are only his third collegiate event. He was the meet's unquestioned star on Wednesday with his 1,000 freestyle performance, taking the lead on the first 50-yard leg and pulling away to win by nearly 12 seconds with a time of 9:14.82. The altitude-adjusted A standard for the Division II meet is 9:15.86.
His altitude-adjusted time was 9:03.42, obliterating his former school record of 9:22.65, set two weeks ago in a dual meet at Drury (Mo.).
Rosado's teammate, freshman
Chase Fields of Tyler, Texas, finished third in the 1,000 in 9:31.23 and met Division II's B time standard. His altitude-adjusted time of 9:19.83 ranked 10th in Division II through Wednesday, meaning he might also be headed to North Carolina. Rosado and Fields will be on the All-RMAC list for the event.
In the 200 IM, Amrein, from Bonner Springs, Kan., won with a time of 1:48.15, which is 1:46.95 after being adjusted for altitude. He set the old record of 1:47.61 in November in the Eagle Invitational in Edmond, Okla. Three OC swimmers qualified for the RMAC B final in the event, with freshman
Jason Seitz of Glen Allen, Va., leading that trip with a tie of 1:54.61.
Freshman
Felix Berling of Meppen, Germany, joined Amrein, freshman
Dereck Montgomery of Rosenberg, Texas, and junior
Brandon Heredia of Maryville, Mo., to finish second in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:21.02. That met the Division II B time standard and might be enough to qualify the quartet for the national meet. It definitely earned the four swimmers All-RMAC honors.
The previous school record in the 200 freestyle relay was 1:21.57, set by
Caleb Musser, Amrein, Montgomery and Heredia last November in the Eagle Invitational.
Berling (20.40 seconds) and Heredia (20.41 seconds) finished third and fourth in the 50 freestyle on Wednesday, both meeting the B time standard. Heredia posted a time of 20.33 seconds in the morning preliminary race. Both earned All-RMAC second-team recognition with their finishes.
In the day's other relay race, the Eagles finished third in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:28.76. Montgomery, Amrein, sophomore
Elijah Tung of Columbia, S.C., and Berling represented OC in the race.
Events to be contested Thursday will be the 100 butterfly, 400 individual medley, 200 freestyle and 400 medley relay. Preliminaries will begin at 10 a.m. Central (9 a.m. local) with the finals to start at 6 p.m. Central (5 p.m. local). The meet will run through Saturday.
