Mustangs Qualify Eight Members For NCAA Championships
Mar 14 | Men's Swimming & Diving
March 14, 2007
DALLAS (SMU) - The SMU men's swimming and diving team qualified three individual swimmers, one diver and three relays for the 2007 Division I NCAA Championships that are going to be held at the University Aquatic Center in Minneapolis, Minn., March 15-17.
In the past 16 years with head coach Eddie Sinnott at the reigns, SMU has finished in the top 12 at the NCAA Championships 10 times and have won nine consecutive conference team championships plus this past season they claimed their second consecutive C-USA Invitational crown.
The Mustangs will be led into the Championships by their three returning All-Americans Ian Clark, Alex Hetland and Luka Vrtovec. Other Mustangs that will be competing and making their NCAA debut are Thomas Fadnes, Preston Holcombe, Shane Milu and Justin Smith.
Senior and team captain, Ian Clark will be making his fourth trip to the NCAAs as Clark has earned All-American status all three years. He will participate in three individual events and the 200 and 400 medley relays. Clark will be competing in the 200 IM as he enters the event with a seeding of No. 22. He posted his qualifying time of 1:47.17 with a second-place finish at the C-USA Invitational. In the 400 IM, he earned the No. 22 seed with a time of 3:50.41 which he posted with a first-place finish at the C-USA Invite. With a career-best time of 1:45.38 in the 200 back, Clark earned the No. 26 seed. He notched his qualifying time with a first-place finish at the C-USA Invite.
Freshman Thomas Fadnes entered the Mustang roster and made an immediate impact on the relays. At the NCAAs, he will be competing in the 200 medley relay and 400 free relay.
Junior Alex Hetland is making his second trip to the championships. He is scheduled to compete in the three individual events and the 400 free and 200 and 400 medley relays. His first competition will be in the 200 IM as he takes the 18th seed with a career-best time of 1:46.85 which he posted with a first-place finish at the C-USA Invite. Holding the No. 4 seed in the 100 breast, Hetland earned the highest seed for the Mustangs this season. In the 100 breast he qualified a career-best time of 53.14 with a first-place finish at the C-USA Invite. In the 200 breast, he posted a time of 1:59.05 at the Art Adamson Invite which qualified him for the No. 27 seed.
SMU's lone diver this season and a freshman, Preston Holcombe will be participating in the diving events for the Mustangs. He competed at the NCAA Zone a few weekends ago on all three boards as he placed fifth on the one-meter, fourth on the three-meter and sixth off the platform.
Freestyle swimmer Shane Milu will compete in his first NCAAs as a member of the 400 free relay team as well as Justin Smith who will swim on the 400 medley relay team.
He made waves as a freshman at the NCAAs last season and is expected to do the same this season as a sophomore. Returning All-American Luka Vrtovec will compete in three individual events and the 400 free and 200 and 400 medley relays. In the 50 free, he holds the No. 17 seed as he posted his qualifying time of 19.69 at the European Short Course Championships. With a career-best time of 47.94, Vrtovec earned the No. 37 seed in the 100 fly. He posted his qualifying time at the Art Adamson Invite. Vrtovec earned the No. 19 seed in the 100 free with a career-best time of 43.47 which he posted as the initial leg of the first-place 400 free relay team at the C-USA Invite.
The 400 medley relay team consisting of Clark, Hetland, Smith and Vrtovec earned the No. 11 seed with a time of 3:11.80. With a time of 1:26.72, the 200 medley relay team consisting of Clark, Hetland, Vrtovec and Fadnes earned the No. 8 seed. The Mustangs posted their qualifying time with a first-place finish at the C-USA Invite. Vrtovec, Milu, Hetland and Fadnes combined for a time of 2:56.21 in the 400 free relay for the No. 14 seed as they posted their qualifying time with a first-place finish at the C-USA Invite.
Athlete - Event (Seed)
Ian Clark - 200 IM (22), 400 medley relay (11), 200 medley relay (8), 400 IM (22), 200 back (26)
Thomas Fadnes - 200 medley relay (8), 400 free relay (14)
Alex Hetland - 200 IM (18), 400 medley relay (11), 200 medley relay (8), 100 breast (4), 200 breast (27), 400 free relay (14)
Preston Holcombe - diving events
Shane Milu - 400 free relay (14)
Justin Smith - 400 medley relay (11)
Luka Vrtovec - 50 free (17), 400 medley relay (11), 200 medley relay (8), 100 fly (37), 100 free (19), 400 free relay (14)
NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships
March 15-17, 2007
University Aquatic Center
Minneapolis, Minn.
Daily Schedule
Prelims: 12 p.m.
Diving: 1:30 p.m.
Finals: 7 p.m.
Ticket Prices:
All session (6 sessions): $52
Single session Preliminaries: $10
Single session Finals: $12
Tickets go on sale, Monday, Dec. 18. To order tickets, call the Athletics Ticket Office at 612-624-8080 or 1-800-U-GOPHER.
Television:
ESPN2 will air a 90-minute NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships show on March 20 at 1 p.m. central.
ESPN360 will air Friday and Saturday's finals sessions live on espn360.com complete with video and audio play-by-play.
Schedule of Events:
Thursday, March 15
Preliminaries (noon)
200 freestyle relay
500 freestyle
200 individual medley
50 freestyle
400 medley relay
1:30 p.m.
1-meter diving
Finals (7 p.m.)
200 freestyle relay
500 freestyle
200 individual medley
50 freestyle
1-meter diving (finals)
400 medley relay
Friday, March 16
Preliminaries (noon)
200 medley relay
400 individual medley
100 butterfly
200 freestyle
100 breaststroke
100 backstroke
1:30 p.m
3-meter diving
Finals (7 p.m.)
200 medley relay
400 individual medley
100 butterfly
200 freestyle
100 breaststroke
100 backstroke
3-meter diving (finals)
800 freestyle relay
Saturday, March 17
Preliminaries (noon)
200 backstroke
100 freestyle
200 breaststroke
200 butterfly
400 freestyle relay
1:30 p.m.
platform diving
4:30 p.m.
1650 freestyle (all but last heat of timed finals)
Finals (7 p.m.)
1650 freestyle (last heat of timed finals)
200 backstroke
100 freestyle
200 breaststroke
200 butterfly
platform diving (finals)
400 freestyle relay
