CLEVELAND, Miss. — The Delta State Statesmen delivered an outstanding Friday night performance at the Thanksgiving Invite, closing the second day of competition in second place with 455 points after multiple event victories and deep scoring across all events.

Senior Mateus Franco set the tone early with a dominant win in the 500 freestyle, touching in 4:25.79, marking a new program record. Teammate Austin Huffhines followed with a strong second-place finish (4:33.89), and Adam Rickert placed sixth to give DSU three A-final scorers in the event.

The Statesmen added another event victory in the 200 IM, where sophomore Riley Oakes surged away from the field to win in 1:49.25, his fastest of the season. Eudald Tosquella and Kacper Mochnal added key A-final points, while Neill Mauss claimed the B-final crown in 1:53.57. Additional contributions from Reece Achord, Lannom Bowman, and others highlighted DSU's impressive depth.

Delta State grabbed its third win of the night in the 50 freestyle, where Ethan Baylin led wire-to-wire to post a victory in 19.97. Lars Hetzel and Sergio Rodriguez also scored from the A-final, and the Statesmen stacked points with strong B- and C-final swims by Ilijic, Furlan, Wallace, and Ploner.

The Statesmen capped the session with a runner-up finish in the 200-freestyle relay, taking second place in 1:21.57 behind Henderson State. The relay of Baylin, Hetzel, Rodriguez, and Huffhines delivered consistent 20-low splits to keep DSU near the top of the leaderboard. DSU's B-relay added a fourth-place finish in 1:24.44.

After two nights of competition, the Statesmen remain firmly in contention as the meet heads into the weekend championship sessions. Day three will be tomorrow morning at 10 a.m., at the Ronald G. Mayers Aquatics Center.