HOUSTON, Texas (Feb. 29, 2020) – Junior Brayden Love claimed his first career Western Athletic title in the 200 butterfly on the final day of the 2020 Swimming and Diving Championship. He is the first Cowboy since George Eglesfield in 2014 to win a title in the event. He also eclipsed his previous career-best and school record that he set this season.
Wyoming would finish the weekend in fourth with 539 points. Air Force would capture the title with 864 points followed by UNLV 692. Grand Canyon was third with 559.5 points. Cal Baptist notched the fifth spot with 423.5 points. Cal State Bakersfield was sixth and Seattle rounded out the field in seventh.
Love posted his winning time of 1:43.77 to come away with the title, besting his previous of 1:44.41 he set on Nov. 22, 2019 at the Mizzou Invite. Freshman Thomas Diaz placed sixth with a time of 1:48.18. Senior Jacob Harlan recorded a time of 1:49.79 while freshman Cameron Murphy touched the wall in 1:49.94.
In the 1650 freestyle, sophomore Ryan Netzel placed second after a time of 15:20.03. Freshman Robert Mitchell recorded a career-best time of 15:42.67 for an 11th place finish, while senior Seth Borgert was 15th in a time of 15:52.14.
Freshman Andrew Rodriguez was the top finisher in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:46.58 followed by senior Tyler Klatt with a time of 1:47.23. Sophomore Miller Browne recorded a time of 1:48.59 and rounded out by senior Sean Calkins touching the wall in 1:49.09.
Senior PJ Musser wrapped up his weekend with an eighth place finish in the 100 freestyle in a time of 44.22. Sophomore Grant Sloan was 14th with a time of 44.84. In the 200 breaststroke, junior Mitchell Hovis placed 13th with a time of 2:02.52.
In the 400 freestyle relay, the team of Sloan, Musser, Harlan and Netzel posted a time of 2:58.40 for a sixth place finish.
In the preliminaries of the platform, freshman Payton Lee turned in a score of 264.65 to place fifth. He was followed by sophomore Brendan Byrnes with a mark of 263.35. Junior Elijah Chan finished just out of the top eight with a mark of 255.30. In the finals, Byrnes was sixth a score of 261.00, while Lee was eighth with 242.75.
The diving teams will be back in action on Monday, March 9 at the NCAA Zone E Championships in Salt Lake City.
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