Gents Place Fourth at SCAC Championships
The Centenary men's swimming team placed fourth at the 2021 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday, finishing the three-day event with 359 total points at the Blossom Athletic Center.
San Antonio, Texas - The Centenary men's swimming team placed fourth at the 2021 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships on Saturday, finishing the three-day event with 359 total points at the Blossom Athletic Center.
The Gents entered Saturday's final day of competition in fourth place with 238 points and improved upon their 2020 finish when they placed fifth. Trinity won the title with 1075.5 points while Southwestern finished second with 872 points. Colorado College placed third with 504.5 points. McMurry University (292), University of the Ozarks (224), and Austin College (164) all finished behind Centenary.
Junior (Miguel Vasquez (Lafayette, La.) put an exclamation point on his superb weekend by being named the 2021 SCAC Men's Swimming & Diving Elite 19 award winner at the conclusion of the championships. Established prior to the 2018-19 academic year and meant to recognize the best of the best within each conference sponsored-sport as it relates to both academic and athletic achievement, the SCAC Elite 19 is awarded to the student-athlete who has completed the equivalent of at least 60 credit hours at his or her current institution and has at least a cumulative 3.25 GPA. The student-athlete must also have earned All-SCAC First, Second or Third Team honors in his/her sport for that particular season.
Vasquez currently holds a 4.00 GPA in theoretical mathematics. He earned all-SCAC honors in three individual events during the weekend: the 100 butterfly, the 100 backstroke and the 100 freestyle, and was a member of both the All-SCAC 200 and 400 medley relay teams. He won the 100 fly on Friday, swimming a career-best time of 50.89 as he became the first Centenary male swimmer to win an individual title since 2014 when a pair of former Gents, Austin Butler and Juan Tapia, claimed wins in the 200 Free and 400 IM respectively.
Vasquez earned all-conference honors for his performance on Friday after earning them as a freshman in 2019 in the 100-Yard Backstroke and as a part of three relay teams. Vasquez also earned a runner-up finish in the 100 back on Friday, as he swam a time of 51.03. He finished third in the 100 free on Saturday, as he swam a time of 46.39.
Junior Mitchell Lulich (New Orleans, La.) earned all-conference honors on Friday with his runner-up finish in the 100-Yard Breaststroke, as he swam a time of 58:31. Fellow junior Ricky LaFleur (Lafayette, La.) place sixth in the 100-Yard Breaststroke, finishing with a time of 59:56. LaFleur (1:59.60) and Lulich (2:00.41) also finished 10th and 11th respectively in the 200-Yard IM, all on Friday.
Centenary's team of Vasquez, LaFleur, Lulich, and senior Chris Reese (Alexandria, La.) placed third in the finals of the 400-Yard Medley Relay (3:33.13) and 200 Medley Relay (1:35.83) on Friday, while the team of Vasquez, freshman Tony Barbee (Plaquemine, La.), LaFleur, and Lulich placed fourth in the 200-Yard Freestyle Relay, swimming a time of 1:28.61. The combo of Lulich, Reese, LaFleur, and Vasquez swam the 800 Yard Free Relay in a time of 7:14.21 to place fourth.
Also on Friday, Reese finished 14th in the 400 Yard IM, swimming a time of 4:44.07, and junior Daniel Lewis (Alexandria, La.) and Barbee each placed in the top 16 in the 100 Fly, as Lewis swam a time of 55.87 to finish 16th and Barbee 18th in a time of 57.08. Freshman Kenan Cooper (St. Francisville, La.) finished 17th in the 100 Breast, swimming a time of 1:06.16. Lewis also placed 15th in the 100 back (59.25). Reese swam the 1650 free in a time of 18:03.30 on Saturday to place sixth. Lewis finished ninth in the 200 back on Saturday with a time of 2:08.91 and senior Augustin Cayere-Lopez (Hammond, La.) placed 12th with a time of 2:13.15 and finished 30th in the 100 free, as he swam a time of 55.11.
LaFleur (2:10.19) and Lulich (2:10.47) placed fifth and sixth in the 200 breast while Cooper finished 16th with a time of 2:33.61. Barbee earned a top-10 finish in the 200 fly, placing ninth as she swam a time of 2:08.88. Reese finished 14th with a time of 2:14.99. The Gents' foursome of Vasquez, LaFleur, Reese, and Lulich placed fourth in the 400 free relay as they swam a time of 3:13.37.
LaFleur had the Gents' best individual finish on Friday, day one of the championships, as he placed 10th in the 200 Yard IM, swimming a time of 1:59.60. Lulich finished just behind him in 11th place with a time of 2:00.41. Cayere-Lopez finished 28th in the 50 Yard Freestyle, swimming it in a time of 24.08 and Barbee placed 29th with a time of 24.20.
Centenary's team of Vasquez, LaFleur, Reese, and Lulich finished third in the 400 Yard Medley Relay, swimming a time of 3:33.13 in the finals. Vasquez, Barbee, LaFleur, and Lulich teamed in the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay and swam a time of 1:28.61 to finish fourth.
As has been the case with most collegiate competition this academic year, the 2021 championships were modified due to COVID-19 protocol. The meet itself was condensed from its normal four-day schedule to a three-day event. Additionally, the meet was conducted as two separate events with the women's teams swimming in the early afternoon and men's teams competing later in the afternoon. All heats were swam as timed finals with no preliminaries.
The final standings were as follows:
1) Trinity University - 1,075.50
2) Southwestern University - 872
3) Colorado College - 504.50
4) Centenary College - 359
5) McMurry University - 292
6) University of the Ozarks - 224
7) Austin College – 164
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