Mustangs Travel To LSU For Dual Meet Saturday
Nov 5 | Men's Swimming & Diving
EVENT NOTES
THE WEEK AHEAD
The SMU men's swimming and diving team continues dual meet action on Saturday when it travels to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to face the LSU Tigers at the LSU Natatorium. The event will begin at 12 p.m. CT, and also features the Mustang women against LSU. Check SMUMustangs.com for a live results link, and find the event on the Meet Mobile app.
CONFERENCE FAVORITES
Christian Scherubl and Bryce Klein swept the American Athletic Conference weekly awards following their performances at TCU, league officials announced on Tuesday. It was the second sweep for the Mustangs this season, as Sam Straughan and Daniel Pitts swept honors on Oct. 6.
Gratwein, Austria, native Scherubl won all three of his individual events and helped the Mustangs to a second place finish in the 200-yard medley relay last week. In the 100 distance, Scherubl had a thrilling come-from-behind victory as he was the only swimmer to split under 24 seconds on the second 50 to edge out his TCU competition by .05 seconds. Scherubl's times in both the 100 and 200 freestyles rank him top in The American. The sophomore was also named the AAC Swimmer of the Week by CollegeSwimming.com.
Southlake, Texas, native Klein posted Zone qualifying scores in his first competition of the 2015-16 season in both the 1- and 3-meter dives. The redshirt-sophomore outscored opponents by nearly 42 points in both events for the win.
LAST TIME OUT
The Mustangs won seven individual events, while sweeping both diving disciplines, but narrowly fell to TCU, 152-148, on Oct. 28 at the University Recreation Center.
Bryce Klein led the diving efforts for SMU, posting NCAA Zone qualifying scores in both the 1- and 3-meter, and Christian Scherubl won a team-leading three events for the Mustangs, outpacing the competition in the 100-, 200- and 500-yard freestyles.
Backstroke specialist Bartosz Krzyzaniak swept both distances, posting times over two seconds faster than his closest competition in each, and senior Sam Straughan was also a multi-event winner posting the top times in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly.
Four other Mustangs earned runner-up honors in individual events, including newcomers Lucas Schenke (1,000 freestyle) and Brandon Norman (200 back), as well as Stefan Popov in the 200 breast and Ziga Cerkovnik in the 100 breast.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
The LSU men are 0-2 on the young season after falling to Wyoming this past weekend. The Tigers finished the 2014-15 season ninth at the SEC Championship and sent a pair of student-athletes to the NCAA Championship.
SUMMER 'STANGS
- Bryce Klein and Christian Scherubl represented their respective countries at the 2015 World University Games. Klein represented team USA on the diving side, while Scherubl swam for Austria. Klein competed in both three meter and synchronized three meter events. In the synchro event, Klein and partner placed sixth. On the swimming side, Scherubl placed fourth in his heat of the 50 free, and went on to finish tied for fifth in his heat of the 100 and sixth in the 200.
- Alum Julian Fletcher represented Bermuda at the Pan Am Games finishing fifth in the Consolation Final of the 100 breast.
- Julian Fletcher and Christian Scherubl also competed at the FINA World Championship, with Fletcher placing 49th in the 200 and 52nd in the 100 breast and Scherubl finishing 57th in the 100 free and 17th as part of Austria's 4x200 meter free relay.
- Recently graduated Tyler Rauth had a standout performance in the 100 fly at USA Nationals, posting a U.S. Olympic Trial qualifying time of 54.28. Sam Straughan competed in the 100 back and 100 fly, placing 66th in the 100 back.
- At USA Diving Nationals, Bryce Klein competed in both the one- and three-meter dives. In one meter prelims, Klein posted a 277.10 for 19th, while he was 23rd in three meter at 294.50. Both Klein and Devin Burnett have qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials.
2015 AAC CHAMPIONSHIP
SMU finished a close second at the 2015 American Athletic Conference Championship winning 11 of the 21 events. The Mustangs finished 34.5 points behind first-place East Carolina. Christian Scherubl was named The American's Most Outstanding Swimmer, winning the 100-, 200- and 500-yard freestyle events. Devin Burnett earned Most Outstanding Diver honors for the second consecutive year after winning all three diving events (1m, 3m, platform) and diving coach Jim Stillson was named The American's Men's Diving Coach of the Year.
A11-CONFERENCE
11 Mustangs landed on the 2015 All-AAC team. Three divers, David Bunn, Devin Burnett and Hayden Hodges, and eight swimmers, Ziga Cerkovnik, Matthew Colket, Eastman Holloway, Bartosz Krzyzaniak, Tyler Rauth, Christian Scherubl, Sam Straughan, and Tucker Wells, received the honor.
2015 NCAA Championship
The Mustangs closed the 2014-15 season with a 39th-place finish at the NCAA Championship in Iowa City, Iowa. Devin Burnett, who qualified in all three diving events, earned Honorable Mention All-American honors in the three-meter dive after finishing 15th and earning the lone points for the Mustangs at the national championship.
ALL-AMERICAN
Devin Burnett qualified for the NCAA Championship in all three diving events (1-meter, 3-meter, platform) and earned Honorable Mention All-America honors in the 3-meter with a 15th-place finish. Burnett is SMU's first diving All-American since Matthew Culbertson in 2009.
SMU, RAUTH HONORED BY CSCAA
Tyler Rauth earned Academic All-America honors from the CSCAA for his work in the pool and in the classroom, while the Mustangs completed the season earning the team honor in both the fall and spring. The men ranked behind only 6 other Division I teams with a 3.42 grade-point-average.
THREE DIVERS QUALIFY FOR NCAA ZONE DIVING CHAMPIONSHIP
Devin Burnett, Hayden Hodges and David Bunn all qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Championship. Burnett and Hodges qualified in the all three diving events. With three top-10 finishes Burnett, qualified for the national championship in all three dives. Hodges and Bunn both earned their highest finish in the platform, with Hodges placing 12th and Bunn finishing 14th.
SCHERUBL SETS TWO SCHOOL RECORDS
Christian Scherubl set SMU records in the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle during his first collegiate season. Scherubl swam a 1:34.89 in the 200-yard free, breaking Lars Frolander's record of 1:34.96 set in 1997. In the 500-yard free, Scherubl swam a 4:18.23, topping Chad Hundeby's record of 4:18.60 set in 1991. Scherubl's 500-yard free was also an American Athletic Conference Championship meet record.
