UTPB swimming combined for 16 wins out of 22 events Saturday afternoon in the season opener for both teams against Wayland Baptist, with the women earning a 124-49 victory and the men's team taking a 125-80 win at the UTPB Pool.

The Falcons picked up wins in each of the two relays on the women's side. The 200 medley team of Sammi Strohmeyer, Jillian Covey, Amanda Alspaugh and Caitlin Dial took first in 1:57.70, and the group of Peyton Slater, Ariana Marek, Courtney Johnson and Lauren Porras finished first in 1:44.89 in the 200 freestyle relay.

Porras earned a pair of individual wins on the day, finishing first in the 50 (26.17) and 100 freestyle (57.45) events. The UTPB women also got wins on the day from Slater in the 200 freestyle (2:05.09), Alspaugh in the 200 IM (2:24.73), Strohmeyer in the 100 butterfly (1:01.79) and Johnson in the 100 backstroke (1:04.44).

The men's team of Jack Maloy, Alex Ruata, Kyle Smith and Kyle Marshall took first place in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:38.87. The Falcon men had seven first-place individual finishes for the afternoon, led by Smith, Ruata and Marshall with a pair of wins. Smith took first in the 50 freestyle (22.60) and 100 backstroke (56.26), while Ruata won the 200 IM(1:59.12) and 100 breaststroke (59.06). Marshall finished in the lead in the 200 freestyle (1:48.91) and the 500 freestyle (5:08.08) Johan Jonsson added a win with a time of 10:33.63 in the men's 1,000 freestyle.

"We had some pretty great swims, but overall, we have a lot to improve on," head coach Cameron Kainer said. "Some of the miniscule part of our races need touching up, but for a first meet, we did well. With the big group of incoming swimmers we had, it was definitely a learning experience for all of them. The college event format is a little different from the high school and club format, so it can be a big change for some. I was excited to see some great racing out of both teams and I think every year, this meet will become bigger and better."

The Falcons are back in the pool next weekend, swimming against Big XII member TCU Sunday afternoon in Andrews, Texas.