GREENSBORO, N.C. (March 10, 2022) – What Brandon Heredia aptly described as a "roller coaster" of a day ended on a positive note for the Oklahoma Christian swimmer on Thursday night in the NCAA Division II Championships.

Heredia, after losing a mid-day swim-off for the final spot in the 200-yard freestyle A final, rallied in the final 50 yards to win the B title in the event with a school-record time of 1:36.15, making the best of what could only be described as an unfortunate situation.

The Eagles capped the second day of the four-day event by meeting a goal in the 400 medley relay, finishing 15th overall in 3:15.41 with a quartet consisting of three freshmen – Dereck Montgomery, J.T. Amrein and Chase Fields – along with Heredia.

That showing earned the Eagles four team points, giving them 43 through two days, good for a tie for 14th with Simon Fraser (British Columbia).

"We were a little off from a month ago (in the relay), but they got the job done and got us points," OC coach Josh Davis said. "We're inching up and making waves. We are getting a lot of comments from other coaches and teams about how glad they are that we're here and moving up and getting better. It's really neat that people are noticing that Oklahoma Christian is on the scene."

Heredia, a junior from Maryville, Mo., is swimming in three individual events at the national meet, but all season long, the 200 freestyle has been his wheelhouse. He won the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title in the event with an altitude-adjusted time (1:36.18) that for a while was the fastest of the season in Division II in the event.

Racing in the last of six heats on Thursday morning, Heredia finished second in 1:36.23, which for a moment appeared good enough to squeeze into the eight-man A final in the event. But a swimmer who'd competed in the fourth heat, Alireza Yavari of McKendree (Ill.), had the same time, and meet officials ruled there would be a swim-off, about 22 minutes after Heredia's race.

Without much time to rest and recover, Heredia dove in for the swim-off and led until the final 50 yards, when Yavari edged past him and won in 1:36.17, just ahead of Heredia in 1:36.96.

Heredia had the afternoon to rest and think before returning for the evening B final. He raced among the leaders the entire way, then moved to the front with less than 50 yards left and held off Radostin Krastev of Lindenwood (Mo.) by .10 of a second at the finish. Heredia's time would have been good for sixth in the A final (ahead of Yavari).

"It was a very unusual swim-off in the 200 free," Davis said. "You usually see swim-offs in a 50 or 100, but never a 200. But Brandon stepped up and did it and he got faster tonight in the consol and got us the points and came back an hour later and anchored our relay. The guy is a big stud."

Heredia acknowledged after the B final that the day – he swam 700 competitive meters, an enormous amount for a sprinter – had worn him down.

"I am dead," he said, before even swimming his relay leg. "That was three 200s in one day. That's a lot more than what I would normally swim."

Heredia said his emotions ran the gauntlet during the morning session.

"I was super excited when I got the eighth position," he said, "and right away, the Queens coach comes up and says, 'You're in a swim-off.' I was like, "Are you serious? No way.' I reset and warmed down and did my thing, and then got my legs up. That was the whole 22 minutes, and then I had to race again. I just got out-touched (at the end)."

As a B finalist and winner, Heredia should receive some sort of All-America honor, although it won't be of the first-team variety. He did become the second OC swimmer in as many days to win a B final in the national meet, joining Amrein, who did so on Wednesday in the 200 individual medley.

Heredia said that after losing the swim-off, at first "it was a big bummer because I couldn't compete in the A final, but it ended up being good. J.T. and I were both in the same position, missing out on the A final and having the B final, and then coming back and getting it done."

Heredia will have one more individual event at the national meet, the 100 freestyle on Saturday.

"It's a credit to Brandon that he's learned how to manage his energy and to be smart and really become a mature athlete, knowing how to get better each session," Davis said. "I'm really, really proud of him."

OC freshman Victor Rosado joined Heredia in the same 200 freestyle heat in the morning and narrowly missed making the B final himself, finishing 19th overall (among 41 swimmers) – just three spots out – in 1:38.03. Rosado finished fourth overall to earn All-America first-team honors on Wednesday in the 1,000 freestyle.

On Friday, Rosado will be seeded 12th in the 500 freestyle and Amrein will be the fourth seed in the 100 breaststroke. The Eagles also will be the sixth seed in the 800 freestyle relay with a squad of Fields, freshman Caleb Musser, Rosado and Heredia.

MEET RESULTS