AUSTIN, Texas – On the third day of the Texas Invitational, nine BYU swimmers advanced to compete in the Friday evening finals at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
“At one of the fastest meets in the world, our team stepped up today to cheer each other on,” BYU head swim coach John Brooks said. “All the relays went well and everyone who was able to swim at night did a great job.”
Senior Vanessa Moffatt drop more than 10 seconds off her seed time in the women’s 400-yard IM. Her seeded time was 4:26.83 but qualified to compete in finals with a 4:30.07 time in the prelims. In finals, Moffat dropped another five seconds recording a 4:25.72 time, finishing second in the D Finals.
Preston Jenkins qualified for finals in the men’s 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:36.11 putting him in the B Final. Jenkins posted a 1:35.59 time in the finals earning 10th place and a spot in the NCAA top-25 in the event.
Three BYU swimmers qualified to compete in the 100-yard breaststroke finals. Freshman Brad Prolo recorded a time of 55.59 in men’s prelims, while juniors Alexa Walters and Taylor Ballard posted times of 1:03.93 and 1:04.37, respectively, in the women’s prelims. In the men’s finals, Prolo recorded a time of 55.85 for fifth place in the D Finals. For the women, Walters posted a time of 1:03.92 and Ballard recorded 1:05.16.
Junior Kunmi Ogunfeibo and senior Payton Sorenson posted times in in the men’s 100-yard backstroke prelims to qualify them for finals. In prelims, Sorenson recorded a time of 48.36 and Ogunfeibo posted a time of 48.70. However, in finals Ogunfeibo edged out Sorenson taking seventh in the C Finals with a time of 48.87 and Sorenson followed in eighth at 49.34.
Haley Bertoldo also qualified women’s 100-yard backstroke posting a time of 56.01 in finals. Nathan Rogers qualified for finals in the men’s 400-yard IM with a time of 3:59.85 in the prelims and finished at 4:02.38 in the finals earning sixth in the D Finals.
A team of Jenkins, Prolo, Sherif Aboumandour and Sorenson earned 14th place in the men’s 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:28.91. Jenkins led off with the backstroke posting a split of 22.35. Prolo took the second leg, earning a split time of 25.49, followed by Aboumandour at a 22.02 split. Sorenson anchored the team with a 19.05 split in the freestyle.
The Texas Invite concludes Saturday with prelims beginning at 10 a.m. CST followed by finals and relays at 6 p.m. CST. Live stats are available on the BYU swim and dive schedule page.