BROOKINGS, S.D. ? The South Dakota State University men's swim team won four individual titles and broke six school records Satuday afternoon, but fell to Wisconsin-Green Bay, 149-113, at the Stanley J. Marshall HPER Center Pool in Brookings.
South Dakota State senior Chad Thomsen had another stellar day in the pool as he posted victories in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, as well as, the 100-yard butterfly. Thomsen, a Canada native, shattered his own record time in the 100-yard breaststroke, clocking a winning time of 55:81 seconds. He also won the 200-yard breastroke in a record time of 2 minutes, 02.97 seconds. The previous record was set in 1999 by Bo Meredith, who clocked a time of 2:05.67. Thomsen closed out his record setting day by breaking Benji Erickson's 2004 record in the 100 butterfly. He clocked a time of 51.84 in a first-place finish. Erickson's previous record was 52.50
Thomsen was also part of SDSU's 200-yard medley team which opened Saturday's competition with a second-place effort and new school record. The team of Chris Holzwarth, Thomsen, Mark Garrigues and Mario Polito clocked a time of 1:36.81 to break their previous record of 1 minute, 38.22 seconds.
SDSU's 400-yard freestyle relay team of Hadleigh Tyler, Brad Peters, Cade Roberts and Chris Holzwarth closed out the meet by shattering another school record. The tandem finished the race in 3:17.00. The previous record of 3:37.33 was set in 2001.
Josh Mueller, a Sioux Falls native, claimed first-place honors in the 1000-yard freestyle in 10:16.72 seconds, while also posting a runner-up performance in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:02.32. The sophomore placed second in the 400 individual medley.
Freshman Mario Polito finished second overall in the 50-yard freestyle competition. The Washington native, broke the event record with a time of 21.72. The previous mark of 21.74 was held by Patrick Hanchin in 2000.
Garrigues won the 400-yard individual medley in a time of 4:16.20. He finished in second place in the 200 freestyle by recording a time of 1 minute, 45.49 seconds. Holzwarth and Roberts also finished second overall in their respective events. Holzwalth posted a time of 55.99 in the 100 backstroke and then placed second overall in the 500-yard freestyle. Roberts finished with a time of 1:00.07 in the 100 breaststroke.
South Dakota State will be back in action Jan. 3-10 in St. Petersburg, Fla., for the Winter Training Trip. Start time has yet to be determined.
