CLEVELAND, Miss. — The Delta State University Men's Swimming & Diving program closed out the Thanksgiving Invite with an emphatic performance, piling up 1,115 points to earn a second-place team finish.

The final night concluded with a statement swim as the quartet of Hetzel, Baylin, Huffhines, and Franco powered to the men's 400 freestyle relay title with a NCAA B Qualifying time of 3:00.20, sealing DSU's second-place team finish.

The finals session started Mateus Franco's commanding victory in the 1650 freestyle, pulling away from the field with a 15:40.49 to set the tone early in finals. The Statesmen remained a force in the distance events as Adam Rickert added a 16:06.54 scoring performance to keep DSU's point total climbing.

In the 200 backstroke, Riley Oakes delivered one of the day's biggest swims, storming to a meet title in 1:49.30, while teammate Jacob Hamblen followed with another strong finals appearance.

The sprint crew made their presence known in the 100 free, where Ethan Baylin struck for another Statesmen victory, touching in 44.33 to headline a group that placed multiple scorers inside the top eight.

Delta State's depth shined late in the session during the 200 breaststroke and 200 butterfly, with Eudald Tosquella, Reece Achord, Neill Mauss, and Kacper Mochnal all grabbing major finals points. Mochnal's 1:45.87 win in the 200 fly was one of the most dominant swims of the entire meet.

The Statesmen return to the Ronald G. Mayers Aquatics Center in a few weeks as they will host a tri-meet with William Carey and Ouachita Baptist on Friday, December 19.