ATHENS, GA. – The Gardner-Webb men's swimming team finished fourth overall this evening at the 2016 CCSA Championships, setting three new School Records in the process on the final evening of swimming at the Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Ga.
The men's 400 Free Relay team of Nathan Lile, Connor Bos, Tyler Gomez, and Cameron Pou won the final relay of the 2016 Championships breaking a School Record in the process with a time of 2:58.41.
Lile earlier in the evening defended his 100 Free title setting a new School, Conference, and Championship Meet Record with a NCAA "B" Cut time of 43.26. It is Lile's third straight night of Conference with an individual victory.
Lile was honored at the end of the night as the 2016 CCSA Championship "Most Outstanding Male Swimmer."
Racing in the B-Final for the 100 Free junior Connor Bos picked up a victory swimming a time of 45.34, while Cameron Pou also swam in the event taking sixth from a time of 46.18.
Junior Andrew Linzie was the lone GWU swimmer in the 100 Free C-Final finishing in fourth-place with a time of 47.19.
In the Men's 200 Breast Final this evening Austin Toney set a new School Record in the event with a time of 2:02.21 finishing sixth in the final.
For the B-Final in the 200 Breast junior Josh Hanson claimed third-place with a time of 2:07.83, while freshman Jake Ennis finished right behind him in fourth with a time of 2:08.00.
Gardner-Webb received great performances this evening in the 1,650 Free from freshman Peter Wakeley and Senior Luke Denman as the duo finished fourth and fifth respectively. Wakeley swam to a time of 15:50.04, while Denman placed with a time of 15:67.46 in his final swim for the Runnin' Bulldogs.
Swimming in the A-Final of the 200 Back sophomore John Baker finished in eighth-place with a time of 1:53.05, and in the B-Final of the event tonight fellow sophomore Joshua Clarke placed in sixth swimming to a time of 1:51.68.
Sophomore Andrew Knudsen swam for the Runnin' Bulldogs in the Men's 200 Fly Final tonight as he placed in fifth for the event swimming to a time of 1:49.83.
In the B-Final of the event Mason Hutchinson (1:50.31) and Tyler Gomez (1:50.49) placed in second and third respectively, while in the C-Final senior Tate Warden (1:51.91) finished his career with a second-place finish and Manny Avila (1:54.98) earned fifth-place overall in the heat.
Coach Mike Simpson had this to say about the week,
"The guys team was tough all year long, we lost some meets in season but we swam tough competition all year and that really showed this week .The team is more than one guy, but (Nathan) Lile was a beast not taking anything away from anyone else on the team. This group has been really close and had great chemistry all year and that brotherhood that was created showed immensely both today and the whole week. Three relay wins in a four-day meet speaks volumes and was absolutely fantastic to get that last win tonight to cap everything off"
Several Gardner-Webb swimmers will take part in long-course events tomorrow morning in attempts to make NCAA trial times in the separate individual events.
Final Standings:
1. UMBC Swim & Dive - 1670
2. University of the Incarnate Word - 1358
3. Old Dominion University – 1255.5
4. Gardner-Webb University - 1111
5. Florida Atlantic University - 969
6. New Jersey Institute of Technology – 528.5
7. Howard University- 335
8. Virginia Military Institute- 270
