With the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships just around the corner, UT Permian Basin Swimming and Diving looks to be in strong shape heading down the stretch.  On Saturday, the men knocked off Southwestern University, 202-95, while the women took home seven events in their dual meet.
 
The men started the meet strong with the 400-medley relay team of Dan Bednarski, Axel Torres Hecker, Szymon Gilzynski, and Trevor Heath taking home the top spot by nearly three seconds.  Emma Gerhart followed with a dominating performance in the 1000-freesyle, defeating the competition by almost 30 seconds.  The men's event the Falcons claimed the top two spots with Evan Siegrist and Niklas Heelein going back-to-back.
 
In the 200-freestyle, Avery Joiner came up just short of the top spot, finishing second with a time of 2:04.74.  On the men's side they took two of the top three spots.  Jackson Nace finished in first with Armando Flores taking third, 0.01 seconds ahead of teammate Isaac Velasquez.
 
The Falcons captured the top spot in the 100-backstroke in both the men's and women's events.  Jazzy Tscherne cruised to a first-place finish while Bednarski squeaked out a win over teammate Legend Jankowski.  The Falcon men bounced back to take another victory in the 200-butterfly.  Owen Putnam went down to the wire and just edged out teammate Siegrist.  Meanwhile on the women's side Alessia LaBlanc was the high finisher with a third place showing.
 
It was nearly a sweep of the podium for the guys in the 50-freestyle.  Heath took home first with Zach Jones coming in second.  Nace narrowly missed a spot on the podium, finishing 0.01 seconds off of third.  Flores continued the Falcons' strong showing by taking first in the 100-freestyle.  The Falcons won both the men and women's 200-breaststroke with Emilia Gutierrez and Torres Hecker in the top spot. 
 
Joiner cruised to a win in the 500-freestyle, winning by nearly five seconds.  Nace and Siegrist matched her strong showing by going back-to-back in the men's version of the event.  It was another Falcon sweep in the 100-butterfly.  Gerhart continued her torrid pace with another win before Gilzynski and Torres Hecker were the top finishers in a tight race on the men's side.  The men closed the day by taking the top two spots in the 200-freestyle relay with Jones, Velasquez, Flores, and Heath coming home victorious.
 
In diving, the Falcons dominated taking the top two spots in all four events.  For the women, Kathe Hepfer held off teammate Delaney Murphy for the top spot in both the 1- and 3-meter dives.  On the men's side they started with Carter Wood winning in the 1-meter dive with Matthew Lenzo closely behind him.  It was a sweep of the podium in the 3-meter event, with Tristan Negrete jumping into third place after previously finishing fourth.
 
Next up for the Falcons are the RMAC Championships starting February 6 from Grand Junction, Colorado.  Download the UTPB Athletics App to follow the team all season long.