Final Results (PDF)
INDIANAPOLIS – The Findlay men were officially declared Great Midwest/Mountain East Swimming & Diving team champions following the conclusion of the four-day meet on Saturday in the C.T. Branin Natatorium.
The Oilers held a wire-to-wire lead over the rest of the field, consisting of a combined nine institutions from the two leagues to capture the coveted trophy for the second year in a row.
Findlay won five total events, including three of the five relay offerings. While the women were responsible for five different meet records broken, the men accounted for nine as the Oilers emerged with 1,550 points.
Individual award winners were voted upon by the coaches as four different standouts were officially recognized at the end of the meet.
The Oilers, despite losing 2018 points standouts like Ben Rath and Janko Radmanovic, had their depth on display all week. UF’s individual event win went to freshman Paul Pavala as he carved out a meet record in the finals of the 200 backstroke.
Trent Williams was part of two relay-winning teams by the Oilers (200 medley, 800 freestyle) and some familiar names from the 2018 meet contributed in multiple events (Mark Billeaud, Trae Gulgin, Issac Stretch, Conner Whitaker, Nathan Bourne).
First-year league member Tiffin made a splash on the men’s side as Lukas Jachno was named the G-MAC/MEC Men’s Coach of the Year. His Dragons won 14 total events and broke eight different meet records.
Earning both G-MAC/MEC Swimmer and Freshman of the Meet award honors was Miguel Garcia Arroyo after he won the 200 IM, 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 butterfly and led off the winning 400 freestyle relay.
The impressive freshman flashed dominance while swimming in many events as one of last year’s stars, Janko Radmanovic of Findlay. Garcia Arroyo broke 200 IM and 400 IM meet records and came really close to Radmanovic’s record standards in other events.
The Dragons had five different swimmers account for 100 or more team points, including Garcia Arroyo, Nick De Robles, Christopher Hohenfeld, Jonah Sumfleth and Aubin Dulin. What Tiffin did with a limited roster size was truly impressive as forest green caps took their place in first at the top of the awards podium.
Tiffin completed the individual awards sweep as Nickolas Jefferson won both the 1 meter and 3-meter diving competitions.
The Dragons finished as the team runner-up with 1,210 points with West Virginia Wesleyan (MEC) in third and Malone came in fourth.
Pedro Gaspar, last year’s Great Midwest Freshman of the Year, gave Davis & Elkins its first event victory in the 200 freestyle. He also broke the championship meet record.
All-conference honors from both leagues will be officially announced in the near future.