The TCU men’s swimming and diving team held off a late BYU rally to beat the Cougars 156-144 and wrap up conference play on Senior night Friday at the University Recreation Center Natatorium.
The win was TCU’s second straight and improved their record to 4-1 overall and 4-1 in Mountain West Conference action. For BYU, the loss dropped their record to 3-3 overall and 1-3 in conference play.
TCU led the entire meet but going into the 400 meter relay, the final event of the evening, the Frogs held only a slim 145-138 lead. They needed a win in that race to win the meet and got one in the foursome of Laszlo Gyurko, Rourke Barrett, Devin Price, and Daniel Bodin.
“To have it come down to the last event and for us to win it convincingly, I mean, it was great for our men’s team,” head coach Richard Sybesma said.
The Horned Frogs picked up two wins apiece from Gyurko and Junior Edgar Crespo. Crespo’s victories in the 100-breaststroke and 200-breastroke increased his team-leading season win total to 10.
And it was a big night for TCU on the diving board, too. Senior Kyle Callens broke his own school record for the second straight meet except this time he did it on the 3-meter springboard tallying a score of 380.15.
On the women’s side of action, the Horned Frogs hosted New Mexico along with BYU and came out of the night 1-1 after losing to the Cougars but beating the Lobos 154-121.
The split ran TCU’s record to an even 4-4 both overall and in conference action. BYU’s pair of victories improved their record to 6-1 in Mountain West action and 8-1 overall while New Mexico’s two losses dropped them to 1-7 in the Mountain West and 6-7 overall.
The Frogs won 13 out of the 16 races against New Mexico and got two wins apiece form Sabine Rasch, Maria Paula Alvarez, Michelle Fleming, and Amanda Vincent. Rasch’s and Alvarez’ victories improved the pair’s team leading season victory total to 11 each.
And despite losing to BYU, the Lady Horned Frogs did beat the Cougars in the 400 meter relay, something Sybesma says will go a long way when it comes to winning the Mountain West conference championships.
“Winning that last relay (400 meter relay) was huge because BYU has been conference champs the past several years and we’re going to be tough when we get to conference,” Sybesma.
Sybesma talked about the specialness of winning two out of three matchups as a unit on Senior night and the importance of those 16 Seniors on the program the last four years.
“They meant everything (Senior class). They’re all leaders and they’ve all done a great job in and out of the water and that’s what it takes to become champions,” Sybesma said.
The TCU women’s team will be back in action Wednesday night when they travel to Denton to take on North Texas in a 6:00 p.m. meet. They’ll then join the men’s team Friday night to close out the regular season when they host Centenary College at 6:00 p.m.
