GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (February 14, 2025) – The University of Texas Permian Basin men's and women's swimming & diving teams completed day four of five at the 2025 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championship with one all-conference finish and three other performances in the A Finals.

The UTPB men (214 points) are fifth out of six teams, leading Adams State University (123 points) in sixth but trailing Oklahoma Christian University (396 points) in fourth place. Colorado Mesa University has scored 807 points and leads Colorado School of Mines (613 points) by 194 points. 

The UTPB women (246 points) are eighth out of nine teams, leading Adams State (137 points) in ninth but trailing the University of Nebraska Kearney (345 points) in seventh. Colorado Mesa has scored 1,493 points and leads by 612 points over Simon Frazier University (881 points).

In the prelims of the women's 500 freestyle, Emma Gerhart (5:30.10) and Ana Cardenas (5:31.76) finished back-to-back in 30th and 31st place, respectively. The UTPB men, meanwhile, put three swimmers into the B Final of the 500 freestyle as Ivan Torres Lopez (4:41.01) was 13th, Legend Jankowski (4:44.78) was 14th and Avin Ward (4:50.24) was 16th in the prelims. In the finals, Torres Lopez (4:43.21), Jankowski (4:43.95) and A. Ward (4:45.71) finished in order between 13th, 14th and 15th place.

In the prelims of the women's 100 backstroke, Gia Delgado (1:10.09) and Alondra Ortiz (1:13.10) were 27th and 28th, respectively. In the men's 100 backstroke, Zane Garner finished 13th in the prelims with a time of 53.11 seconds while Carlos Baca was an alternate (17th place) with a time of 1:00.05. In the B Final, Garner would remain in 13th place with a time of 51.98 seconds.

Rowan McWhorter made the final of the women's 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:07.20 in the prelims, which was good for 14th place. She then finished 15th in the B Final at 1:07.23. On the men' side of the 100 breaststroke, Nathan Powell (57.93) was 10th and Chase Alderman (58.24) was 13th in the prelims while Owen Ward (1:00.07) and Brannan Espericueta (1:00.71) were the alternates in 17th and 18th place, respectively. Then in the B Final, Powell finished 11th at 57.60 seconds while Alderman was 15th at 58.38 seconds.

One of UTPB's best races of the day was the men's 200 butterfly as Owen Putnam finished fifth in the prelims with a time of 1:51.70. Also in the prelims, Evan Siegrist (1:57.45) was 13th, Tommy Betancour (2:02.47) was 15th and David Charles (2:03.39) was 16th. In the B Final, Siegrist (1:57.83) moved up to 12th place, Charles (2:02.31) moved up to 15th and Betancour (2:03.75) was 16th. In the A Final, Putnam finished eighth at 1:55.81.

In the women's 3-meter diving competition, Kathe Hepfer finished fourth in the prelims with a score of 466.65 while Camilla Aguilar was sixth at 422.90. Both scores were good for an NCAA Division II provisional regional qualifying score, the second of the meet for Hepfer after also doing so in the 1-meter dive on Wednesday. In the finals, Hepfer earned another regional qualifying score but dropped to fifth place with a score of 460.80 points. Aguilar, meanwhile, finished seventh with 398.35 points. It was the same place-finishing's the pair had in the 1-meter dive.

Lastly, in the 200 freestyle relay, the UTPB women (Cardenas, Ortiz, Delgado, Erika Hajduk) finished ninth with a time of 1:49.59. The UTPB men's "A" team (Colin Doyle, Leo Eleftherakis, Daniel Bednarski, Powell) took a spot in the top-four with a time of 1:24.54, earning them Second-Team All-RMAC recognition.

RMAC Academic Honor Roll: Before the final session on Friday, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference recognized its members of the Swimming & Diving Academic Honor Roll who were competing at the championship. Members of the UTPB women's team recognized were Olivia Blackman, Ana Cardenas, Emma Gerhart and Alondra Ortiz while recognized from the UTPB men's team were Evan Siegrist, Ivan Torres Lopez, Owen Putnam, Zane Garner, Owen Ward, Colin Doyle, Chase Alderman, Tommy Betancour and Nathan Powell. Each of the student-athletes recognized have maintained a cumulative GPA of 3.30 or better and have completed two consecutive semesters at UTPB.
 

Men's All-RMAC Performances (Top-4):
200 freestyle relay – fourth place – UTPB "A" team (Colin Doyle, Leo Eleftherakis, Daniel Bednarski, Nathan Powell) – 1:24.54.
 
Men's A Finalists: (Top-8):
200 butterfly – eighth place – Owen Putnam – 1:55.81
 
Men's B Finalists: (Top-16):
500 freestyle – 13th place – Ivan Torres Lopez – 4:43.21
500 freestyle – 14th place – Legend Jankowski – 4:43.95
500 freestyle – 15th place – Avin Ward – 4:45.71
100 backstroke – 13th place – Zane Garner – 51.98
100 breaststroke – 11th place – Nathan Powell – 57.60
100 breaststroke – 15th place – Chase Alderman – 58.38
200 butterfly – 12th place – Evan Siegrist – 1:57.83
200 butterfly – 15th place – David Charles – 2:02.31
200 butterfly – 16th place – Tommy Betancour – 2:03.75
200 freestyle relay – 12th place – UTPB "B" team (Brannan Espericueta, Chase Alderman, Szymon Gilzynski, Owen Ward) – 1:26.12
 
Women's A Finalists: (Top-8):
3-meter diving – fifth place – Kathe Hepfer – 460.80
3-meter diving – seventh place – Camilla Aguilar – 398.35
 
Women's B Finalists: (Top-16):
100 breaststroke – 15th place – Rowan McWhorter – 1:07.23
200 freestyle relay – ninth place – UTPB "A" team (Anna Cardenas, Alondra Ortiz, Gia Delgado, Erika Hajduk) – 1:49.59
 

Next up: UT Permian Basin is back for the fifth and final day of the 2025 RMAC Championship on Saturday, February 15. Preliminaries start at 10 a.m. Mountain Time with finals at 5:30 p.m. Mountain Time. Day five of the conference meet with feature the 1650 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 200 breaststroke, men's 1-meter diving and the 400 freestyle relay.
 
Day Four Results