Final Results

CLEVELAND, Miss. – A successful weekend for Missouri S&T's swimming team couldn't have ended any better, as the Miners' 400-yard freestyle relay team made the automatic qualifying time in school record fashion to conclude matters at the Delta State Christmas Invitational.

S&T's relay team of Jacob Dole (Corbin, Ky./Country Day School), Aljaz Kerc (Ljubljana, Slovenia/Gimnazija Bezigrad), Matt Zieger (St. Joseph, Mo./Central) and Danylo Mykhailov (Khankiv, Ukraine/Sport Collegue N.S.) posted a time of 2:59.21 to set the Miners' fifth pool record of the weekend and make the qualifying mark in the process.  All four individuals posted sub-45 second times in their legs, starting with a 44.88 by Dole, to get the qualifying time.

Zieger became the sixth Miner to have an automatic mark, joining his three relay teammates, Keith Sponsler (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln East), who was part of S&T's 200-freestyle relay that qualified Friday and Andrew Schranck (Alton, Ill./Marquette Catholic), who led off the 200-medley relay that qualified Saturday.

Also in Sunday's competition, Ethan Goldfarb (Arlington, Texas/The Oakridge School) won the 200-yard breaststroke with a provisional qualifying mark of 1:59.61.  Sponsler finished second in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 45.38 seconds, while the Miners also got a fourth place finish from Luke Norris (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands) in 46.03 – also a provisional qualifying time – and Schranck was fifth in 46.50 seconds.

The Miners' next competition is scheduled to take place Jan. 12 at the University of California-San Diego.

Saturday's Recap

The strong performances at the Delta State Christmas Invitational continued for Missouri S&T's swimming team Saturday night, as another automatic qualifying mark was posted by a relay team and three school records tumbled on the second night of competition.

A night after its 200-yard freestyle relay team made the automatic qualifying mark for the NCAA Division II Championships, S&T's 200-yard medley relay made the automatic time in that event and added an additional national qualifier in the process.

The medley quartet of Andrew Schranck (Alton, Ill./Marquette Catholic) and three others that were part of Friday's qualification team – Aljaz Kerc (Ljubljana, Slovenia/Gimnazija Bezigrad), Danylo Mykhailov (Khankiv, Ukraine/Sport Collegue N.S.) and Jacob Dole (Corbin, Ky./Country Day School) – posted a winning time of 1:29.02 that also broke the school record in the event.   Dole swam a closing leg of 19.80 in the 50-yard freestyle portion to push the Miners past the qualification mark by .09 seconds.

The Miners also got a school record performance from Ethan Goldfarb (Arlington, Texas/The Oakridge School) in the 400-yard individual medley, as he broke the old mark held by Danny Murphy with a time of 3:55.42 that improved his provisional qualifying mark that he had set in the morning session.
Keith Sponsler (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln East) won the 200-yard freestyle with a provisional qualifying time of 1:39.68, while Matt Zieger (St. Joseph, Mo./Central) also hit a provisional mark in the 200-free with a time of 1:40.57 that earned him a third place finish.  Mykhailov also made a provisional time in the 100-yard backstroke at 50.50.

Another provisional mark came from the 800-yard freestyle relay team of Luke Norris (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands), Dole, Kerc and Schranck in its winning performance in 6:39.16 – a time that broke the previous record by nearly three full seconds.  The Miners have set school records in three relays this weekend and have broken the pool record in all four that they have won at the meet, which will conclude Sunday afternoon.

Friday's recap

The opening night of the Delta State Christmas Invitational turned into a big one for Missouri S&T's swimming team, as the Miners got an NCAA Division II automatic qualifying time from its 200-yard freestyle relay team and a long-time school record that got matched during the course of the day.

The Miners' 200-yard freestyle relay team of Jacob Dole (Corbin, Ky./Country Day School), Aljaz Kerc (Ljubljana, Slovenia/Gimnazija Bezigrad), Keith Sponsler (Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln East) and Danylo Mykhailov (Khankiv, Ukraine/Sport Collegue N.S.) shattered the school record in the event and made the automatic qualifying mark in the process with a time of 1:20.31.  Dole opened the race with a split of 20.50 and the other three all finished their legs in under 20 seconds.

Earlier in the day, Mykhailov tied the S&T school record in the 50-yard freestyle that was set by Dave Belleville in 2002, posting a mark of 20.40 during the preliminaries.  He would finish second in the finals with a time of 20.56 seconds as one of five Miners to place among the top seven.

S&T also got a seasonal-best mark of 4:32.33 from Ethan Goldfarb (Arlington, Texas/The Oakridge School) to win the 500-freestyle—improving his NCAA provisional qualifying time in the process -- and a winning performance from its 400-yard medley relay team of Andrew Schranck (Alton, Ill./Marquette Catholic), Kerc, Mykhailov and Dole with a provisional qualifying mark five seconds below its seasonal best at 3:18.82.

Dole had a fourth place showing in the 50-yard freestyle in 20.64 seconds, where he was followed by Kerc in fifth in 20.76, Sponsler in sixth with a time of 20.99 and Luke Norris (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands) in seventh in 21.12.  Matt Zieger (St. Joseph, Mo./Central) won the consolation final in 21.24 seconds.