AUSTIN, Texas – Senior captain Payton Sorenson recorded a top-15 time in the country Thursday morning during the men’s 50-yard freestyle prelims on the second day of the Texas Invite.
“We had pretty good swims tonight with several career-best times,” BYU head coach John Brooks said. “Brad Prolo swam a lifetime best in the 200-yard IM, along with Alexa Walters’ 100-yard breaststroke split in the 400-yard medley relay. Throughout the events today, everyone had season-best times.”
Sorenson recorded a 19.57 time in the men’s 50-yard freestyle in the morning prelims placing sixth overall. In the finals, he posted a 19.65 earning sixth place in the A Final. In the men’s 200-yard IM, senior Preston Jenkins and Prolo qualified for finals with 1:47.51 and 1:50.04, respectively. A freshman, Prolo posted a career-best time of 1:49.38 while Jenkins earned a 1:52.97 in the finals.
A team of Jenkins, Prolo, junior Sherif Aboumandour and Sorenson earned 10th place in the men’s 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:15.30. Jenkins led off with a 48.50 split, followed by Prolo at 55.25. Aboumandour posted a 48.61 in the third leg and Sorenson anchored with a 42.94 split. The same relay team also competed in the men’s 200-yard freestyle relay posting a final time of 1:21.92 earning 16th place.
The women’s relay team of juniors Emma Richards, Alexa Walters, Haley Bertoldo and senior Natalie Bennion took 18th in the women’s 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:48.01. Walters earned a career-best split time of 1:03.48 in the breaststroke leg.
The Texas Invite continues Friday with prelims starting at 10 a.m. CST and finals scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. CST at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center. Live results are available on the BYU swim and dive schedule page.