Frank Applebaum has the fastest time in the 200 fly in Division III this year
Frank Applebaum has the fastest time in the 200 fly in Division III this year

CMS Men's Swimming and Diving Sends Nine Swimmers to NCAA Championships

NCAA Division III Psych Sheets

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's swimming and diving team will have nine swimmers attending the NCAA Division III Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana next month, the NCAA announced on Wednesday.

In individual events, Frank Applebaum (100 fly, 200 fly), Anderson Breazeale (200 free, 200 back), Marco Conati (100 fly), Lucas Lang (500 free, 1650), and Nick Tekieli (100 back) earned qualifications at the NCAA Championships. CMS will also compete in four relays, with Theo Johnson and Dylan Krueger joining Conati and Tekieli in the 200 free relay, Eric Workman joining Breazeale, Conati and Tekieli in the 400 free relay, and Walter Limm competing in the breaststroke leg of both medley relays. 

Applebaum is the top seed in the 200-yard butterfly, after earning the fastest time in Division III this year with his 1:46.06 that won the SCIAC Championship last weekend. That places just ahead of Jesse Ssengonzi of UChicago with a 1:46.39. Applebaum is also seeded 12th in the 100 fly with his 48.20, while Conati, who was an All-American in the event in 2019, is the 10th seed wtih a 47.93. Applebaum is also 19th in the 200 IM with a 1:49.66.

Lang is seeded in the top 10 in both of his distance events, which he swept at the SCIAC Championships. His SCIAC-record 1650 time of 15:22.76 places him fifth in the field, while his 4:26.68 in the 500 ranks him 10th. 

Breazeale is seeded 11th in the 200 back with his SCIAC-winning time of 1:46.69, while his 1:38.88 in the 200 free places him 15th in the NCAA Division III field. Tekieli is seeded 15th in the 100 back with his 48.50. 

In the relays, the best seed for the Stags is No. 7 in the 200 medley relay, where they clocked a 1:28.57 at the SCIAC Championships. The 400 medley relay is just behind in the No. 8 seed in 3:15.05, while the 200 free relay is in the No. 13 spot (1:21.18) and the 400 free relay (3:00.30) is seeded No. 16. 

CMS has a chance to add to its NCAA traveling party after the regional diving championships are held tomorrow and Saturday at Trinity University in San Antonio. Cyrus Gaylord, Jack Griffith and Ben Smith will represent the Stags and be among the competitors looking to advance to nationals with a strong regionals performance.