INDIANAPOLIS — The University of Hawai'i's 200-yard freestyle relay team's appearance at the NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships produced two school records on Thursday.
The Rainbow Warriors' team of
Karol Ostrowski,
Jakub Ksiazek,
Jordan Meacham and
Grant Stoddard already owned the UH record in the relay and lowered the mark again with a time of 1 minute, 16.23 seconds while finishing third in the second of four heats at IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.
After the final two heats, UH ended up 17
th overall in the field of 25 schools. Florida went on to win the event with a time of 1:13.49 to close out Day 2 of the NCAA Championships.
Along with setting the tone for the school relay record, Ostrowski also set the UH 50 freestyle record with a leadoff leg of 18.89 seconds, breaking the previous mark of 19.30 he set in February.
The 'Bows earned an automatic berth in the NCAA Championship with their record-setting victory at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships on Feb. 22 in St. George, Utah. The team posted an NCAA A-cut time while breaking the UH and MPSF records in finishing in 1:16.75 and qualified in the 200 free relay for the third time in program history and the first time since 2000.
The Rainbow Warriors entered the NCAA Championships as the 18
th seed in the relay and UH was the only school from outside a Power Five conference represented in the event. UH's seed time placed the 'Bows in the second heat along with Louisville, North Carolina, Texas A&M, LSU and Texas.
After Ostrowski's UH record-setting leadoff, Ksiazek kept the 'Bows near the front and UH led a tight pack after the third leg. Louisville pulled ahead late to finish in 1:16.15 followed by Texas A&M and UH with 0.08 seconds separating first and third in the heat.
Senior
Mackaby Pennington will cap his UH career on Saturday in the platform diving competition. Trials are scheduled to start at noon Eastern time (6 a.m. Hawai'i time). The finals are set for 6 p.m. ET (noon HT).
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