Air Force Academy
Early Bird Invitational (Swimming)
Air Force Men Finish Third at Early Bird Invitational
10/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Oct. 18, 2008
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - With nine first-place finishes, the Air Force men's swimming team finished third at the Early Bird Invitational, hosted by Colorado State. The Falcons, who competed in only Saturday's events of the two-day invitational, tallied 704 points. Colorado School of Mines captured the men's title with 1041.50 points, while Colorado was second with 771.50 points. Winning the women's competition was host CSU, which swept all of the women's events.
While the Falcons sent their more inexperienced swimmers to compete at the invitational, there were several standout performances, including three swimmers with a pair of first-place individual finishes each. Spencer Butt (Sr., Sterling, Va.) won both breaststroke events, Matt Jurcak (Sr., Plymouth, Mich.) won both backstroke events, and Corydon Butler (Fr., Williamsburg, Va.) took first in the 200 free and 1650 free.
Butt won the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:00.94, while taking first in the 200 breast with a mark of 2:12.50. Cody Deacon (Fr., Portland, Ore.) added a pair of second-place finishes in both breaststroke events, with times of 1:01.14 and 2:13.50, respectively, while senior Layne Wilson (Austin, Texas), finished fourth in both events.
Jurcak recorded a winning time of 55.09 in the 100 back, while finishing first in the 200 back with a time of 2:00.30. Also registering a top-five finish in the 100 back was freshman Kaleb Jenkins (Savannah, Ga.), who finished third with a mark of 55.89.
Butler clocked in at 1:46.45 to take first in the 200 freestyle, while recording a time of 17:01.66 to win the 1650 free. Meanwhile, Cole Smith (Fr., Charlotte, N.C.) took second in the 200 free with a time of 1:47.22 and third in the 1650 free with a mark of 17:49.95.
Butler also was the Falcons' top performer in the 400 IM, finishing second with a mark of 4:22.01, while Nathan Erickson (Fr., Moraga, Calif.) finished fifth in the event, recording a time of 4:35.38.
Three Air Force swimmers finished in the top five in the 100 fly, with Karl Mohrmann (So., Lake Forest, Ill.), Jenkins and Nate Roesler (Fr., Hastings, Minn.) placing second, third and fourth, respectively. Meanwhile, Roesler, Mohrmann and Smith finished third, fourth, and fifth, respectively, in the 200 fly.
The Falcons took two of the first three spots in the 100 freestyle, as Jared Jaime (So., Anchorage, Alaska) finished second with a mark of 49.44, while Johnathan Cox (Fr., Kingwood, Texas) took third with a time of 50.26.
Air Force also had a successful day on relays, winning all three relays it competed in, taking first and second in both the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay. In the 200 medley relay, the team of Jurcak, Butt, Mohrmann and Wilson, recorded a time of 1:39.09 to win the event. Meanwhile, Jurcak, Mohrmann, Cox and Smith combined for a time of 3:16.91 to win the 400 freestyle relay. The Falcons also won the 800 free relay, with Jurcak, Butler, Smith and Mohrmann turning in a time of 7:19.66.
The Falcons return to action next weekend, Oct. 25, as they travel to Denver for a quad-meet with Denver, Colorado School of Mines and Metro State.
Players Mentioned
