Dallas Morning Classic Day One

DALLAS, Texas, January 11. THE Mustangs swam a strong meet against quality opponents Friday night in the first night of the 26th annual Classic @ SMU. Alex Hetland punched his ticket to the NCAAs, earning an automatic qualifying time in the 100 breast, while the 400 medley relay qualified for NCAA consideration.

The tone was set early in the first night of competition as the 400 medley relay took shape. The crowd of nearly 400 was treated to an exhibition by Texas All-Stars Aaron Peirsol, Brendan Hansen, Ian Crocker and Garrett Weber-Gale. Peirsol, Hansen and Crocker are all record-holders in their specialty strokes (back, breast and fly, respectively) and among the fastest swimmers in the world. The Texas All-Stars shattered the meet and pool records set just last year, touching in at 3:07.53 with an easy open-water victory. The Mustangs (Pontus Renholm, Hetland, Luka Vrtovec and Thomas Fadnes) finished in second, stopping the clock in 3:14.64, good for NCAA consideration.

For the second time in a month, Hetland came within six-tenths of a second of beating world record holder Hansen in the 100 breast. Hetland started ahead of Hansen, but Hansen caught him in the 75th yard and poured on his trademark speed to beat Hetland by a touch. Hansen set a new pool and meet record in 52.83, while Hetland clocked in at 53.46 for second place in the event.

In the Jerry Heidenreich Memorial 200 Free, Mustang Shane Milu was out-paced by Texas All-Star Dave Cromwell, who finished the course in 1:35.19. Milu placed third, stopping the clock at 1:39.80. Crocker narrowly beat SMU's Vrtovec in the 50 free. Crocker touched in at 19.69, while Vrtovec finished in 20.00, within the mark needed for NCAA consideration.

After the first four swimming events, the one-meter diving competition was held. Mustang freshman Matthew Culbertson added another strong performance to his growing resume, tallying 328.85 points and taking first place. Billy Sweeny of Arizona State placed second and Ryan McIntosh of Northwestern earned third.

Crocker's speed was again on display as the record-holder and Olympic gold medalist won the 100 fly, clocking a time of 45.78. Vrtovec just couldn't keep up as he placed fourth in the event, touching the wall in 49.11. Peirsol added another record to his list of accomplishments, setting a new pool and meet record in the 100 back, stopping the clock at 46.72. Pontus Renholm finished second, touching in at 49.33.

The final event of the night was the 800 free relay. The Texas All-Stars set another meet and pool record as Peirsol, Cromwell, Dale Rogers and Weber-Gale touched the wall in 6:28.32. SMU's squad of Nate Clark, Milu, Fadnes and Maverick Smalley finished second, coming in at 6:37.88.

At the end of the night, the Texas All-Stars were in first place with a score of 186, SMU was in second with 151. Northwestern holds third, Arizona State is in fourth and USC is in third.

"The meet got off to a fast start," said Mustang head coach Eddie Sinnott. "Everyone is swimming really well, which is what it's all about. The Texas All-Stars set five new pool records and they're really raising the level of competition. Everyone who came had a great time and we're looking forward to tomorrow night when we can again watch the fastest swimmers in the world do their thing."

Special thanks to SMU for contributing this report.

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