Athens, Ga. - Gardner-Webb men's swimming put the wraps on a record-breaking weekend at CCSA Championships, setting two more school records and getting individual event wins from a pair of freshmen to help finish a third place effort at the 2013 Conference Championship meet.

The Runnin' Bulldogs finished with 732 points. Davidson (906.5) finished in first place, while College of Charleston (833.5) finished second.

The GWU men entered Saturday night down 67.5 points to second place College of Charleston, looking to put pressure on the Cougars early.

For the second day in a row, Gardner-Webb opened the night with a head-turning performance in the night's first event, this time in the 1650 free. Gutsy swims from freshmen Luke Denman and Andy Watts gave the Runnin' Bulldogs its first ever 1-2 finish in the event at CCSA Championships.

Denman (Greenville, S.C.) stayed on the hip of leader Dylan Ludwick early in the race before making his move at the 800 yard mark. Denman never looked back, pulling away from the field for the win in the event with a school record time of 15:43.56.

As Denman raced into first place, Watts (Sarasota, Fla.) started to sneak towards the front of the pack from the outside of the pool in lane one, closing the gap between he and Ludwick to a body length entering the last 50 yards. Watts sprinted home in 24.9, out-touching Ludwick to give the Runnin' Bulldogs a momentum-shifting 1-2 finish in the event.

Both Denman and Watts were under the previous school record time entering the meet, and became the first two Runnin' Bulldog milers to break the 16:00 mark.

Sam Wilson (New Bern, N.C.) had a strong back half in the 1650 free, adding more points for GWU with a sixth place finish in the event. The junior achieved a season best time of 16:03.12 Saturday night.

Nathan Lile and Jordan Denmark made it two 1-2 finishes in a row in the 200 back. The teammates achieved season best times during finals, pulling away from the third place finisher by over two seconds.

Lile, a freshman from Waynesville, N.C., surged during the second half of the race to win his first collegiate event, achieving a time of 1:47.16 . Denmark, a junior from Raleigh, N.C., swam to his third individual All-Conference performance of the meet, racing to a time of 1:47.49.

Junior Taft Kallam (Randleman, N.C.) also recorded a Top 8 finish thanks to a strong second 100 yards in the 200 back, moving up from seventh place to fifth during finals with a personal best time of 1:51.48. Kallam's swim marked his second Top 8 finish of the meet.

In the consolation heat of the 200 back, sophomore Colin James (Greensboro, N.C.), who won the 100 back during finals on Friday night, turned in a season best time of 1:53.16 to take tenth place in the event.

GWU's Joe MacGregor (Brooksville, Fla.) led the team in the 100 free, moving up in finals to take tenth place the event after racing home for a time of 47.34. The sophomore's prelims time of 46.92 in the event was a season best. Juniors Matt Anderson (Fortaleza, Brazil) and Cole Hickey (Charlotte, N.C.) added 11th (47.58) and 15th (48.61) place finishes in finals. During prelims, Anderson and Hickey swam personal best times of 46.78 and 46.83, respectively.

The Runnin' Bulldogs put two in the Top 8 of the men's 200 breast. Junior Phil Leonard finished in a career-best fourth place in the event after racing to a time of 2:06.45 in finals. Leonard (Clemson, S.C.) achieved a personal best time in prelims, achieving his best-ever time of 2:06.38 on Saturday.

Senior Drew Ellwanger (Newborn, Ga.) achieved a fifth place finish (2:07.76) in his last race as a Runnin' Bulldog, adding a season best 2:06.48 in prelims of the event. Fellow senior Mitch Turner (Acworth, Ga.) added a 14th place finish (2:15.20) for Gardner-Webb. Turner finished strong in his last meet for GWU, having achieved a personal best time of 2:13.89 on Saturday morning during prelims of the 200 breast.

In the meet's last individual, the 200 fly, senior DJ Hughes (Snellville, Ga.) led GWU with a sixth place finish, swimming a season best time of 1:53.17 in finals. Junior Cody Meyers (Mobile, Ala.) took 7th in finals at 1:54.37, and swam a season best time of 1:54.14 in prelims. Freshman Tate Warden (Charleston, W.Va.) also swam a season best during prelims (1:53.99), taking eighth in the event after swimming 1:54.57 during finals.

Senior Tyler Nuss (Hamilton, Ohio) went out with a bang in his last race for Gardner-Webb, achieving a personal best time of 1:55.75 during finals, winning the consolation heat to take ninth in the heat.

The night's final event ended fittingly for the Gardner-Webb men, as another school record went down during the 400 free relay. Nathan Lile led off in 45.58, the fastest 100 free in men's team history. Tate Warden (46.14) took the great start with Lile, and Joe MacGregor (46.65) and Matt Anderson (46.19) finished off a great swim for GWU in the event with a time of 3:04.56.

At the Championships, GWU worked hard to overcome 178 diving points combined between the first place finishing Wildcats and the second place finishing Cougars.

In all, eleven GWU men's swimmers earned All-Conference honors. Jordan Denmark (400 medley relay, 200 I.M., 200 back, 100 back, 800 free relay), Nathan Lile (200 back, 400 I.M., 400 free relay, 800 free relay, 200 free relay), Matt Anderson (200 medley relay, 400 free relay, 200 free relay, 400 medley relay), Luke Denman (1650 free), Colin James (200 medley relay, 100 back), Drew Ellwanger (100 breast, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay), Andy Watts (1650 free, 800 free relay), Tate Warden (400 free relay, 800 free relay), Cole Hickey (200 medley relay), Joe MacGregor (400 free relay), and DJ Hughes (100 fly) earned All-CCSA honors during the three-day Championship weekend.