Trinity University Athletics - Individual Sports

Trinity Men Take the Runner-Up Spot at the 2008 SCAC Championships

The 2008 SCAC Swimming and Diving Championships took place on February 13-16 at the Carroll ISD Aquatic Center in Southlake, TX, and for the second consecutive year the Trinity Men’s Swimming and Diving team finished runner-up in the conference standings. Unlike 2007, however, the T.U. Tigers persistently challenged the eventual winner, DePauw, throughout the meet’s first three days before succumbing to the defending champions’ superior team depth on the final evening of the 2008 title match. Coaches John Ryan, Pete Yelacic, and Stan Randall were all pleased with the team’s spirit and competitiveness throughout the weekend. “We definitely swam well at every finals session.” stated Ryan. “Will Basinger finished his senior year with a win in the 200 fly, which was cool. Our first-year swimmers were really successful, and that bodes well for the future.” The final team scores for the 2008 SCAC classic were as follows:

DePauw University 877.5

Trinity University 783

Centre College 741

University of the South 547

Colorado College 473

Rhodes College 373

Hendrix College 302

Austin College 176.5

Southwestern University 175

Leading the Tigers from San Antonio were seniors Will Basinger of Albuquerque, NM (swimming) and Ryan Cook of Katy, TX (diving). Both closed their careers with wins in their specialties, establishing new PR’s in the process. Basinger hit 1:53.80 in the 200 butterfly, while Cook scored 512.00 points in the 1-meter and 519.30 points in the 3-meter diving competition. Cook’s point totals were new SCAC records and his performances earned him SCAC Diver-of-the-Year honors for the 2007-2008 season.

Meanwhile, Basinger played a role in two other Trinity wins – this time on relays. For openers, he swam the butterfly leg on T.U.’s winning 200 medley relay, where he was joined by FY Taylor Clark of Spring, TX, junior Grant Quimby of Bryan, TX, and sophomore Graham Mullings of Magnolia, TX. That foursome kicked the Friday night finals session off for the Tigers, firing up their entire team for what may have been the best two hours of swimming in team history. The session closed with the most exciting race of the meet, a Trinity win over DePauw in the 800 freestyle relay. There, Basinger teamed up with Mullings, Clark, and Kyle Boe of Cypress, TX to touch up 1/10 of a second in front of their Indiana rivals (6:58.70 to 6:58.80). Strategy played a role in the win, as T.U. put their fastest swimmer (Clark) in the number 3 spot, hoping he would give Boe enough of a lead to hold off DePauw’s anchor leg, John Cook. The gamble paid off. Boe knocked 2 seconds off his own 200 PR and left the crowd hoarse from cheering, as Trinity finished Friday night with their second relay win of the meet.

Apart from his contributions to the two aforementioned relays, FY Taylor Clark made a name for himself individually by winning both the 500 freestyle (4:38.15) and the 200 freestyle events setting a new SCAC record by recording a time of 1:41.05. All-SCAC honors were earned by ten Trinity swimmers and divers including Cook, Basinger, Clark, Mullings, Boe, Quimby, FY Logan May of Boise, Idaho, junior Andrew Shane of Potomac, MD, FY Kenneth Rogge of Edmond, OK, and junior Travis Mills of Boerne, TX.

The future looks bright for the Tiger men. With only two seniors graduating, it appears likely that next year’s incoming class may well be one of the biggest and most talented in the history of the program. “Knock on wood on that forecast,” commented head coach John Ryan. “We’ve got some good kids trying to decide if Trinity is the right place for them to spend the next four year of their lives. We think T.U. is a gem of a school. If several of them agree, we’re going to be pretty good in 2009 !”