GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (February 13, 2026) – After the final event on Friday, the Falcon men have broken a new school record in all four relay races so far while the Falcons' women's 400 medley relay team bounced back from a disappointing Thursday night to also break the school record as The University of Texas Permian Basin men's and women's swimming & diving teams closed out day four of the RMAC Championships at El Pomar Natatorium.

The UTPB men (280 points) are fifth out of six teams, leading Adams State University (138.5 points) in sixth but trailing Simon Frazier University (355 points) in fourth place. Colorado Mesa University has scored 953 points and leads Colorado School of Mines (563.5 points) by 389.5 points. 

The UTPB women (163 points) are eighth out of nine teams, leading Adams State (81 points) in ninth but trailing the University of Nebraska Kearney (221 points) in seventh. Colorado Mesa has scored 1,357.5 points and leads by 366 points over Colorado School of Mines (991.5 points).

It was again the final event of the day that had the most fireworks for the Falcons. In the 200 freestyle relay, the UTPB women's "A" team (Avery Momotiuk, Sarahie Barcenas, Mackenzie Gingerich, Rowan McWhorter) finished seventh with a time of 1:39.56, marking a two-spot improvement from last year's finish. Then the UTPB men's "A" team (Kell Frazier, Nico Turner, Logan Fultz, Colin Doyle) consisting of three freshmen finished with yet another school record time at 1:21.59, earning them Second-Team All-RMAC recognition with a fourth-place finish for the second year in a row. The previous school record in the men's 200 freestyle relay was 1:22.57 set in 2019. Also of note, the UTPB men's "B" relay team finished with the exact same time (1:24.54) as the UTPB "A" team did last year to earn all-conference honors.

In a time trial swam after the morning session, the UTPB "A" relay team (Ava McCormack, Momotiuk, McWhorter, Gingerich) took their hand in the women's 400 medley relay after being disqualified on an early takeoff the night before. In the end, the ladies accomplished their goal of setting their second school record in the relays, finishing with a time of 3:59.95 (altitude adjusted time of 3:59.55) to break the previous school record of 4:01.17 set in 2017.

In the prelims of the 500 freestyle, Erika Hajduk finished in 33rd place with a time of 5:44.12 on the women's side, and Niklas Heelein was 22nd with a time of 4:45.97 on the men's side.

In the prelims of the women's 100 backstroke, McCormack finished 14th with a time of 59.30 seconds, and then in the B Final, she remained in 14th but improved her time to 58.80 seconds. The men, meanwhile, put two simmers into the A Final for the first time during the meet as Turner finished fifth in the prelims with a time of 49.99 seconds while Zane Garner was eighth at 50.90 seconds. In addition, Cooper Workman was 14th in the prelims at 51.78 seconds, and then in the B Final, he moved up four spots to 10th place and improved his time to 51.05 seconds. In the A Final, Garner remained in eighth place at 51.61 seconds while Turner remained fifth at 49.51 seconds. It was a five-spot improvement for Garner, who finished 13th in the event a year ago, and was a strong showing for Turner to finish just one spot away from all-conference honors in the event in his first collegiate season.

Momotiuk (1:07.32) and McWhorter (1:07.81) finished 21st and 22nd, respectively, to make the C Final of the women's 100 breaststroke, where Momotiuk moved up to 20th place with a time of 1:06.67 while McWhorter finished 23rd at 1:08.04. On the men's side of the 100 breaststroke, UTPB put four swimmers into the B Final for the first time during the meet. In the prelims, Sean Greene (56.78) was ninth while Frazier (57.75), Chase Alderman (57.83) and Brannan Espericueta (58.22) all finished in order between 13th and 15th place, respectively. Peyton Beard (1:00.36, 18th) was the second alternate in an event for the second time during the meet. In the B Final, it was Frazier (56.92) moving up three spots to take 10th place, followed by Greene (57.11) in 12th, Alderman (57.70) in 14th and Espericueta (57.99) in 15th.

The UTPB men continued to one-up themselves. In the 200 butterfly, senior Owen Putnam finished third in the prelims with an NCAA Division II National "B" cut time of 1:50.85 seconds (altitude adjusted time of 1:49.65). Putnam's altitude adjusted time broke the previous UTPB school record of 1:49.85 set by Nikita Naumov in 2018. Also in the prelims, Massimo Alarcon (2:01.06), Tommy Betancour (2:03.13), David Charles (2:05.10) and Mattson Uhlenhopp (2:05.47) all finished in order between 11th and 14th place, respectively, and all qualified for the B Final. In the B Final the order was Alarcon (1:58.77) remaining in 11th, Uhlenhopp (2:02.98) moving up to 12th, Charles (2:03.99) remaining in 13th and Betancour (2:04.85) finishing in 14th. Last but certainly not least, after finishing in eighth place in the event last year, Putnam took fifth with a time of 1:52.70 in the A Final this year, finishing just one spot away from all-conference honors.

Through the first four days of the RMAC Championship, UTPB has combined to break 10 school records (4 men's relays, 2 women's relay, 4 men's individuals). Doyle has been a part of three relay records (200 medley relay, 400 medley relay, 200 freestyle relay) and one individual record (100 butterfly) so far, while Turner has played a part in all four relay records set so far by the Falcons' men's team to go along with one individual record (100 backstroke – relay leadoff split).

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 Rowan McWhorter and Alondra Ortiz while recognized from the UTPB men's team were Chase Alderman, Massimo Alarcon, Tommy Betancour, Colin Doyle, Zane Garner, Niklas Heelein, Owen Putnam and Owen Ward. 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 (Kell Frazier, Nico Turner, Logan Fultz, Colin Doyle) – 1:21.59
 
Men's A Finalists: (Top-8):
100 backstroke – fifth place – Nico Turner – 49.51
100 backstroke – eighth place – Zane Garner – 51.61
200 butterfly – fifth place – Owen Putnam – 1:52.70
 
Men's B Finalists: (Top-16):
100 backstroke – 10th place – Cooper Workman – 51.05
100 breaststroke – 10th place – Kell Frazier – 56.92
100 breaststroke – 12th place – Sean Greene – 57.11
100 breaststroke – 14th place – Chase Alderman – 57.70
100 breaststroke – 15th place – Brannan Espericueta – 57.99
200 butterfly – 11th place – Massimo Alarcon – 1:58.77
200 butterfly – 12th place – Mattson Uhlenhopp – 2:02.08
200 butterfly – 13th place – David Charles – 2:03.99
200 butterfly – 14th place – Tommy Betancour – 2:04.85
200 freestyle relay – 12th place – UTPB "B" team (Zane Garner, Cooper Workman, Owen Ward, Brannan Espericueta) – 1:24.54
 
Women's A Finalists: (Top-8):
200 freestyle relay – seventh place – UTPB "A" team (Avery Momotiuk, Sarahie Barcenas, Mackenzie Gingerich, Rowan McWhorter) – 1:39.56
 
Women's B Finalists: (Top-16):
100 backstroke – 14th place – Ava McCormack – 58.80
 
 
Next up: UT Permian Basin is back for the fifth and final day of the 2026 RMAC Championship on Saturday, February 14 (Valentine's Day). 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, women's 1-meter diving and the 400 freestyle relay.