SAN ANTONIO, Texas (November 25, 2024) – In their midseason meet, The University of Texas Permian Basin men's swimming & diving team finished second out of eight teams at the Trinity University Tiger Invitational while the UTPB women's team was fifth out of 11 teams.

On the men's side, the hosts from Trinity, who are ranked No. 24 in NCAA Division III, won by more than 100 points after scoring a three-day total of 1,179 points in the meet. UTPB was second with 947 points while Loyola University-New Orleans (LA) was third with 599 points.

On the women's side, No. 16-ranked Trinity finished more than 600 points ahead of the nearest school, tallying 1,304.5 points over three days. Colorado State University-Pueblo was second with 621 points, followed by Southwestern University (TX) in third with 491.5, and Loyola University-New Orleans (LA) in fourth with 426 points. UTPB edged McMurry University (TX) to place fifth, scoring 226 points to McMurry's 153.
 

Tiger Invitational Day 1 – Friday, November 22
The UTPB women placed fourth (Kathe Hepfer, 219.40), fifth (Camilla Aguilar, 193.75) and ninth (Jessica Iracheta (128.30) in the 1-meter dive while Andrew Pritt (200.25) placed third in the 3-meter dive for the men.

In the pool, the Falcons had a lot of really good swims and saw many athletes achieve season and personal best times.

UTPB's men's 200 freestyle relay "A" team (Colin Doyle, Leo Eleftherakis, Szymon Gilzynski, Jake Shelton) finished first with a time of 1:23.42, which was within one second of the school record.

Five UTPB men's swimmers made it to the finals in the 500 freestyle, winning first (Legend Jankowski, 4:43.76) and second place (Avin Ward, 4:45.81) in the B Final and taking second (Shelton, 4:31.48), third (Ivan Torres Lopez, 4:38.01) and fourth place (Evan Siegrist, 4:38.67) in the A Final. Shelton got an NCAA Division II National "B" cut in his race.

The UTPB men also had five finalists in the 50 freestyle with Doyle winning with a personal best time of 20.94 seconds.

On the women's side, freshman Rowan McWhorter was the top qualifier in the 200 IM from the morning with a personal best time of 2:09.64. She then finished fifth in the finals with a time of 2:11.81.
 
Friday's Top-Eight Finishers & A Finalists:
Women's 1-meter diving – fourth place – Kathe Hepfer – 219.40
Women's 1-meter diving – fifth place – Camilla Aguilar – 193.75
Men's 3-meter diving – third place – Andrew Pritt – 200.25
Women's 200 freestyle relay – eighth place – UTPB "A" team (Emma Gerhart, Ana Cardenas, Olivia Blackman, Rowan McWhorter) – 1:44.74
Men's 200 freestyle relay – first place – UTPB "A" team (Colin Doyle, Leo Eleftherakis, Szymon Gilzynski, Jake Shelton – 1:23.42
Men's 200 freestyle relay – sixth place – UTPB "B" team (Brannan Espericueta, Avin Ward, Chase Alderman, Nathan Powell) – 1:26.79
Women's 500 freestyle – eighth place – Emma Gerhart – 5:31.69
Men's 500 freestyle – second place – Jake Shelton – 4:31.48
Men's 500 freestyle – third place – Ivan Torres Lopez – 4:38.01
Men's 500 freestyle – fourth place – Evan Siegrist – 4:38.67
Women's 200 IM – fifth place – Rowan McWhorter – 2:11.81
Men's 200 IM – sixth place – Owen Putnam – 1:53.99
Men's 200 IM – seventh place – Chase Alderman – 1:56.24
Men's 50 freestyle – first place – Colin Doyle – 20.94
Men's 50 freestyle – eighth place – Szymon Gilzynski – 21.62
Men's 400 medley relay – second place – UTPB "A" team (Zane Garner, Nathan Powell, Colin Doyle, Jake Shelton) – 3:26.74
Men's 400 medley relay – sixth place – UTPB "B" team (Legend Jankowski, Chase Alderman, Szymon Gilzynski, Ivan Torres Lopez) – 3:30.67
Men's 400 medley relay – eighth place – UTPB "C" team (Avin Ward, Brannan Espericueta, Tommy Betancour, Owen Putnam) – 3:33.77


Tiger Invitational Day 2 – Saturday, November 23
In the women's 3-meter dive, UTPB once again placed fourth (Kathe Hepfer, 212.65) and fifth (Camilla Aguilar, 199.30) while in the men's 1-meter dive, Andrew Pritt (190.75) once again placed third.

The UTPB men (Zane Garner, Chase Alderman, Doyle, Shelton) placed second in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:33.64.

The Falcons had three men in the A Final for the 100 butterfly, led by Doyle (50.33) in third place.

UTPB also had three men in the A Final of the 400 IM, led by Owen Putnam (4:04.03) also in third place.

The UTPB men once again had three swimmers in the A Final for the 200 freestyle as Shelton (1:39.54) placed second with his second National "B" cut of the meet.

Lastly, UTPB had four men in the A Final in the 100 backstroke with Doyle (51.40) finishing second and Garner (52.18) taking third.

In the 100 breaststroke, both McWhorter (women's team, 1:07.94) and Alderman (men's team, 58.23) placed sixth in their respective races.
 
Saturday's Top-Eight Finishers & A Finalists:
Women's 3-meter diving – fourth place – Kathe Hepfer – 212.65
Women's 3-meter diving – fifth place – Camilla Aguilar – 199.30
Men's 1-meter diving – third place – Andrew Pritt – 190.75
Men's 200 medley relay – second place – UTPB "A" team (Zane Garner, Chase Alderman, Colin Doyle, Jake Shelton) – 1:33.64
Men's 200 medley relay – seventh place – UTPB "B" team (Owen Ward, Nathan Powell, Szymon Gilzynski, Leo Eleftherakis) – 1:35.46
Men's 200 medley relay – eighth place – UTPB "C" team (Legend Jankowski, Brannan Espericueta, Tommy Betancour, Ivan Torres Lopez) – 1:36.63
Men's 100 butterfly – third place – Colin Doyle – 50.33
Men's 100 butterfly – fourth place – Szymon Gilzynski – 50.36
Men's 100 butterfly – seventh place – Tommy Betancour – 51.68
Men's 400 IM – third place – Owen Putnam – 4:04.03
Men's 400 IM – fifth place – Evan Siegrist – 4:06.74
Men's 400 IM – eighth place – Legend Jankowski – 4:18.85
Men's 200 freestyle – second place – Jake Shelton – 1:39.54
Men's 200 freestyle – fourth place – Ivan Torres Lopez – 1:42.93
Men's 200 freestyle – seventh place – Avin Ward – 1:44.75
Women's 100 breaststroke – sixth place – Rowan McWhorter – 1:07.94
Men's 100 breaststroke – sixth place – Chase Alderman – 58.23
Men's 100 backstroke – second place – Colin Doyle – 51.40
Men's 100 backstroke – third place – Zane Garner – 52.18
Men's 100 backstroke – fourth place – Owen Putnam – 52.96
Men's 100 backstroke – eighth place – Owen Ward – 54.16


Tiger Invitational Day 3 – Sunday, November 24
There was no diving on day three of the Tiger Invitational.

The UTPB men had three swimmers in the A Final of the 200 backstroke as Ward and Garner both tied for first place with a time of 1:54.55.

UTPB also had three men in the A Final of the 100 freestyle with Doyle (46.04) taking third place.

In the women's 200 breaststroke, McWhorter (2:29.61) got fifth while on the men's side, the Falcons got two swimmers into the A Final.

UTPB also had two men make the A final of the 200 butterfly with Putnam (1:50.34) taking home first place.

Lastly, in the 1650 freestyle, Emma Gerhart (18:32.10) placed fourth on the women's side while UTPB placed second though fourth place on the men's side. Siegrist (16:01.96) was second, Torres Lopez (16:16.51) was third and Shelton (16:21.01) was fourth.
 
Sunday's Top-Eight Finishers & A Finalists:
Men's 200 backstroke – tied for first place – Avin Ward – 1:54.55
Men's 200 backstroke – tied for first place – Zane Garner – 1:54.55
Men's 200 backstroke – fifth place – Legend Jankowski – 1:56.02
Men's 100 freestyle – third place – Colin Doyle – 46.04
Men's 100 freestyle – fifth place – Jake Shelton – 47.15
Men's 100 freestyle – eighth place – Ivan Torres Lopez – 47.99
Women's 200 breaststroke – fifth place – Rowan McWhorter – 2:29.61
Men's 200 breaststroke – seventh place – Nathan Powell – 2:10.55
Men's 200 breaststroke – eighth place – Chase Alderman – 2:11.72
Men's 200 butterfly – first place – Owen Putnam – 1:50.34
Men's 200 butterfly – seventh place – Evan Siegrist – 1:59.50
Women's 1650 freestyle – fourth place – Emma Gerhart – 18:32.10
Men's 1650 freestyle – second place – Evan Siegrist – 16:01.96
Men's 1650 freestyle – third place – Ivan Torres Lopez – 16:16.51
Men's 1650 freestyle – fourth place – Jake Shelton – 16:21.01
Women's 400 freestyle relay – seventh place – UTPB "A" team (Olivia Blackman, Erika Hajduk, Ana Cardenas, Rowan McWhorter) – 3:46.81
Men's 400 freestyle relay – third place – UTPB "A" team (Colin Doyle, Szymon Gilzynski, Ivan Torres Lopez, Jake Shelton) – 3:07.37
Men's 400 freestyle relay – eighth place – UTPB "B" team (Avin Ward, Nathan Powell, Chase Alderman, Brannan Espericueta) – 3:10.81


Next up: The Falcons are off until Saturday, December, 7 when they travel to Austin College for a double dual meet.
 
Tiger Invitational Final Results