CLEVELAND, Miss. – After the first two days at the 2024 Delta State Christmas Meet, the Delta State University men's swimming and diving team are in first place with a team score of 891.5 points.
The Statesmen hold a 350-point lead over the second place Falcons from the University of Montevallo.
Day One
The Statesmen jumped out to an early lead after day one as they scored team points 343 points as they succeeded in the distance events.
The trio of
Mateus Franco,
Adam Rickert, and
Riley Oakes took the top three spots in the first event of the meet as Franco would win the 1,000-yard freestyle with a 9:09.21 timed 1k. Rickert would take second place as he finished the race with a time of 9:31.89. Coming in third place for the Statesmen was
Riley Oakes as he finished with a time of 9:38.15.
Delta State would sweep the two relay races in day one as the 200-yard medley team of Oakes,
Ethan Baylin, Jake Runyon and
Michael Robinson would win the A-Final with a time of 1:29.20.
To finish the evening, the 800-yard freestyle team consisting of Runyon,
Kacper Mochnal, Franco, and
Austin Huffhines would win the event with a time of 6:38.34.
Day Two
The Lead increased for Delta State starting with the diving board as sophomore diver
Braden Moore won the 3-meter dive with a 304.95 score.
The Statesmen scored a lot of their points with second and third place finishes. The 200-yard freestyle team of Runyon, Baylin, Brooks Butler, and Robinson would finish the night with a first-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:20.91
To start off the evening, Franco would finish in second place in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:30.80.
Following the 500-yard freestyle,
Eudald Tosquella, Mochnal and
Lars Hetzel would take second, third and fourth in the 200-yard individual medley. Tosquella would take second place with a time of 1:52.20.
In the 50-yard freestyle, the green and white would take second through fifth as Baylin would lead the way with a time of 20.23 seconds. Robinson would finish third with a 20.35 second race.
The Christmas meet will continue tomorrow and Tuesday as the preliminary races start at 10 a.m. and the Finals will be a 5 p.m. tomorrow at the Ronald G. Mayers Aquatics Center.
