The Emory University Men's Swimming and Diving team began the Denison University Invitational on Thursday, collecting five top-four finishes and 13 NCAA B Cuts to finish second in the team standings with 553 points, trailing only first place and host Denison which tallied 802 team points on day one.
The Eagles totaled a trio of second place finishes to highlight the evening, led by senior Trey Kolleck. In the 50 Freestyle, Kolleck placed second in the finals at 20.19 and in prelims, posted a NCAA cut time of 20.18. Junior Sage Ono took sixth in the 50 Free with his NCAA B Cut of 20.52. Both swimmers were part of the Eagles' sliver-finishing relay teams on the night, as the 200 Free Relay, also featuring senior Zachary Chen and freshman Colin LaFave, touched in a time of 1:20.63 and in the 400 Medley Relay, the group of Ono, Kolleck and freshmen Hwa Min Sim and Tyler Russell turned in a mark of 3:16.87.
Emory saw five NCAA qualifying times recorded on Thursday in the 500 Freestyle, led by freshmen Pat Pema, Sean Byman and Will Schuler. The trio took the 5-7 spots in the A final, led by Pema's 4:33.16 and followed by Byman at 4:33.42 and Schuler at 4:33.89 (4:33.33 in prelims). The Eagles saw faster qualifying times posted in the B final with freshman Jason Hamilton winning with a time of 4:31.04 and sophomore Kellen Stillman touching right behind him at 4:31.09.
The Eagles added four more NCAA B Cuts in the 200 IM including three in the A final. Chen was fourth at 1:50.38 followed by freshman Zach Lorson in fifth at 1:50.69 and fellow freshman Jack Kelleher in sixth at 1:50.93. Freshman Ethan Sternberg took 12th place overall with his NCAA qualifying time of 1:51.34.
The Denison Invitational continues on Friday with the 200 Medley Relay, 400 IM, 100 Butterfly, 200 Freestyle, 100 Breaststroke, 100 Backstroke, 800 Freestyle Relay and the men's 1-meter dive.