GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (February 12, 2025) – Through the first full day of competition at the 2025 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championship, The University of Texas Permian Basin men's team is fifth out of six teams while the Falcon women are seventh out of nine.

The UTPB men (57 points) lead sixth-place Adams State University (54 points) by three points while the UTPB women (135 points) trail sixth-place the University of Nebraska Kearney (148 points) by 13 points and lead eighth-place Colorado State University Pueblo (124 points) by 11 points.

On Tuesday night, the UTPB women (Olivia Blackman, Ana Cardenas, Emma Gerhart, Rowan McWhorter) were eighth at 8:06.94 in the 800 freestyle relay while the men (Ivan Torres Lopez, Evan Siegrist, Daniel Bednarski, Owen Putnam) finished fifth with a time of 6:57.12.

In the first race of Wednesday morning, McWhorter finished 11th in the prelims of the 200 IM with a time of 2:11.65 and then won the B Final (9th overall) with a time of 2:09.52. In the men's 200 IM prelims, Putnam (1:54.41) was 12th and Chase Alderman (1:55.58) was 16th. Bednarski (1:55.89) was an alternate in 18th place. In the finals, Putnam (1:53.81) and Alderman (1:55.66) remained in their same placings.

UTPB's top performer in the women's 50 freestyle prelims was Erika Hajduk (27.09) in 40th. In the men's 50 freestyle prelims, Nathan Powell (21.32) and Colin Doyle (21.40) were the alternates in 17th and 18th place, respectively.

In the final races of the morning session, Gerhart was 23rd in the women's 1000 freestyle with a time of 11:10.80. Meanwhile, the UTPB men had two swimmers in the top-16 of the 1000 freestyle as Siegrist was 12th with a time of 9:43.56 and Torres Lopez was 15th at 9:52.22.

In the women's 1-meter diving prelims, Kathe Hepfer was sixth with a score of 374.20, Camilla Aguilar was right behind her in seventh place with a score of 335.60, and Jessica Iracheta was 12th at 220.35. Then in the finals on Wednesday night, Hepfer moved up one spot to finish fifth with an NCAA Division II provisional regional qualifying score of 399.70 while Aguilar remained in seventh place at 342.60.

Lastly, in the 200 medley relay to finish the day, the UTPB women (Blackman, McWhorter, Gerhart, Hajudk) were ninth with a time of 1:56.15.


Men's A Finalists: (Top-8):
800 freestyle relay – fifth place – UTPB "A" team (Ivan Torres Lopez, Evan Siegrist, Daniel Bednarski, Owen Putnam) – 6:57.12
 
Men's B Finalists: (Top-16):
800 freestyle relay – 13th place – UTPB "B" team (David Charles, Chase Alderman, Owen Ward, Legend Jankowski) – 7:05.28
200 IM – 12th place – Owen Putnam – 1:53.81
200 IM – 16th place – Chase Alderman – 1:55.66
1000 freestyle – 12th place – Evan Siegrist – 9:43.26
1000 freestyle – 15th place – Ivan Torres Lopez – 9:52.22
200 medley relay – 13th place – UTPB "B" team (Daniel Bednarski, Chase Alderman, Tommy Betancour, Leo Eleftherakis) – 1:34.30

Women's A Finalists: (Top-8):
800 freestyle relay – eighth place – UTPB "A" team (Olivia Blackman, Ana Cardenas, Emma Gerhart, Rowan McWhorter) – 8:06.94
1-meter diving – fifth place – Kathe Hepfer – 399.70
1-meter diving – seventh place – Camilla Aguilar – 342.60
 
Women's B Finalists: (Top-16):
200 IM – ninth place – Rowan McWhorter – 2:09.52
1-meter diving – 12th place – Jessica Iracheta – 220.35
200 medley relay – ninth place – UTPB "A" team (Olivia Blackman, Rowan McWhorter, Emma Gerhart, Erika Hajduk) – 1:56.15
 

Next up: UT Permian Basin is back for day three of the 2025 RMAC Championship on Thursday, February 13. Preliminaries start at 10 a.m. Mountain Time with finals at 5:30 p.m. Mountain Time. Day three of the conference meet with feature the 100 butterfly, 400 IM, 200 freestyle, men's 3-meter diving and the 400 medley relay.
 
Day One Results
Day Two Results