Non-Rev Round Up: TCU triathlon advances to National Championship

Cross Country

TCU Cross Country wrapped up its regular season at the Arturo Barrios Invitational in College Station this past Friday. The Frogs had a good race on both the men’s and women’s side with the women finishing in 14th place out of a field of 41 teams and the men finishing in 22nd place out of a field of 39 teams.

Gracie Morris was the top finisher for the Frogs on either side with a phenomenal race, finishing in sixth place individually in the 6K thanks to a time of 19:49.40. Tabitha Kalunde Ngao was the second finisher on the women’s side for the Frogs as she took 66th place with a time of 20:52.20. The Frogs had one more finisher in the top 100 with Mariana Martinez having a solid race, finishing in 81st place with a time of 20:59.00. London Culbreath and Peyton McQuillan were the final two finishers for the Frogs with times of 21:19.60 and 21:26.30 good for 111th place and 127th place respectively.

Graydon Morris was the top TCU finisher on the men’s side in 73rd place thanks to a solid time of 24:29.60 in the 8K. CJ Meyer was the other Frog in the top 100 finishers on the men’s side with an 85th place finish and a time of 24:32.70. Noah Winters just missed a top 100 finish in 103rd place and a very good time of 24:41.23. Stone Burke and Grant Martinez wrapped up the runners for the Frogs with finishes of 148th and 197th and times of 25:01.40 and 25:23.30 respectively.

TCU Cross Country also received two strong commits last week. Zach Troutman and Tyler Westrom, from Southlake Carroll and Argyle respectively, both announced on Oct. 9 that they are headed to TCU. The Frogs will next travel to the Big 12 Championships taking place in Ames, Iowa on Saturday, Oct. 28.

Swimming and Diving

TCU Swimming and Diving opened their Big 12 season with a home win over BYU on both the men’s side and women’s side by total scores of 200-172 and 238-134 respectively. The Frogs started off with a win in the women’s 400-yard medley relay thanks to a great time of 3:40.51. Kara Church took first in the women’s 1000-yard freestyle for the Frogs with a great time of 10:07.11 while Geremia Freri won the men’s 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:16.55.

TCU won both the men’s and women’s platform diving events behind strong showings from Elliot Dillon and Anna Kwong with scores of 274.85 and 243.15 respectively. Both winners in the 400-yard IM were Frogs as Freri won the men’s race with a time of 3:52.44 and Nina Vadovicova won the women’s race with a time of 4:26.01. The Frogs won the women’s 400-yard freestyle relay to wrap up the morning session. The 400-yard freestyle was a very close race with TCU finishing with a time of 3:23.47, just .45 seconds ahead of the top BYU team.

The Frogs started off the evening events with a win in the women’s 200-yard medley relay thanks to a great time of 1:40.62. TCU won the men’s 200-yard medley relay as well with a solid time of 1:27.52. Kwong scored her second win of the day, this time in the 1-meter dive with a good score of 276.05. Ollie Cazaly took the men’s side of the 1-meter dive for TCU with an excellent score of 324.10. Milan Fabian secured a win for the Frogs in the men’s 200-yard freestyle behind a time of 1:39.32.

The Frogs took both sides of the 100-yard backstroke thanks to wins from Tania Quaglieri and Edgar Cicanci and times of 55.34 and 48.55 respectively. TCU swept the 100-yard breaststroke winners as Vadovicova secured her second individual win and Jadon Wulliez won his first individual win on the day with times of 1:00.75 and 54.24 respectively. The women’s 200-yard butterfly was won by Alessandra Senis for the Frogs thanks to a time of 2:02.01. Olivia Rhodes took first in the 50-yard freestyle for the Frogs behind a strong time of 22.78. Cazaly won his second event of the day in the 3-meter dive with a score of 393.85.

Rhodes was the next Frog to pick up her second individual win with a victory in the 100-yard freestyle thanks to a time of 50.31. The women’s 200-yard backstroke was won by the Frogs and Mikayla Popham behind a great time of 2:01.62. Vadovicova won her third individual event of the day in the 200-yard breaststroke by a margin of seven seconds thanks to a time of 2:11.30. Church picked up her second individual win on the day, this time in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:54.33. Fabian then picked up his second individual win of the day in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:29.22.

Freri won his third individual race of the day, this time in the 200-yard IM with a time of 1:49.30. The final winners for the Frogs were the members of the women’s 200-yard freestyle relay who secured a win thanks to a time of 1:32.93. The next meet for the Frogs will take place in Austin, Texas against UT this Friday, Oct. 20.

Women’s Triathlon

TCU triathlon has had a wildly successful inaugural year as a program, and that continued on Saturday as the Frogs advanced to Nationals after finishing in third place at the USAT West Regional in Springfield, Missouri. The Frogs were led by Sara Gimena who secured a top ten finish individually. Gimena had an excellent performance on Saturday with a time of 1:04:55.66 good for ninth overall.

Elena Viejo was the second Frog to finish in the top fifteen with a great time of 1:05:24.48 good for 12th individually. Ani Veltcheva finished right behind Viejo in thirteenth place thanks to a time of 1:05:28.21. TCU had three more finishers in the top 25 with Amanda Moro, Jenna Buchanan, and Kennedy Calcogno finishing in 20th, 21st, and 24th thanks to solid times of 1:06:16.91, 1:06:21.97, and 1:06:45.49 respectively. The National Championship Race will take place on Saturday, November 11th in Tempe, Arizona.