FINAL RESULTS
ARKADELPHIA, Ark. - Henderson State posted five of the current best times in NCAA Division II Friday as the Red Wave men defeated Oklahoma Christian University, 153-124, while the women fell to the Eagles, 153-115.
After the men came up three points shy to Oklahoma Christian in last year's dual meet, HSU found the upper hand this time around, claiming the victory even prior to diving taking place, of which OC had none.
The men's 400 yard medley relay, 200 free relay,
Lamar Taylor in the 100 yard backstroke to lead off the 400 relay and
Jase Pinckney in the 100 yard butterfly all posted Division II-best times as it currently stands on the season while
Kiara Pozvai for the ladies claimed her nation-best mark in the 50 free to lead off the 200 free relay.
Both men's and women's teams took first in the kick-off event of the meet, the 400 yard medley relay. Pozvai,
Bianca Santiago,
Isabelle Andrews and
Mackenzie Kester defeated OC's second-place quarter by four whole seconds with a time of 3:56.06. The men's quartet of Taylor,
Jaren Tippett, Pinckney and
Jack Armstrong delivered the current DII best time of 3:18.05 for their win.
Henderson's next win came in the 50 free as both Pozvai and Armstrong took top honors. Pozvai, swimming against all Eagles in her heat, paced the pack with a time of 23.94. Her best 50 free time, however, was still to come. Armstrong edged OC's sprinter in the men's 50 free with a time of 20.03 for his first individual win of the night before coming back with a victory in the 100 free (44.34).
Emma Jorgensen won the 200 yard IM (2:12.62) prior to Andrews taking first in the 100 fly with a time of 59.67. Pinckney delivered on encore performance with his own 100 fly, posting a nation-best 49.37 to take first. Taylor followed the winning trio with a win in the 100 backstroke by nearly two whole seconds as the defending National Champion in the 100 back holds the time-to-beat in the country with a time of 49.69.
With the swimming portion of the meet nearing the end, Henderson's men garnered 15 points in the 100 breaststroke compared to just nine for Oklahoma Christian as Red Wave swimmers finished second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth, led by
Mark Eberhard (58.38) in the runner-up position to bring the men to within four points. The 200 free relay stood to be the difference in the winner of the swimming events on the men's side.
Both teams got in on the win in the final event of the night as Pozvai, Andrews and Kester got their second relay win of the day, joined by
Madalyn Hall, with a time of 1:36.31, as Pozvai's lead-off 50 free of 23.16 closed the day as the best time in Division II. The men echoed the dominance of the women with their own national-best time of 1:19.92 as Taylor and Armstrong bookended the relay with legs of 19.77 and 19.60, respectively.
Henderson State will return to the Wells Natatorium next Friday, Oct. 13 when the Red Wave host Missouri-St. Louis at 6 p.m. for Homecoming weekend at HSU.
