Men’s Swim and Dive broke 12 school records at the conference championships

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Swimming and Diving squad tackled the four-day Summit League Championships this week in Minneapolis, Minnesota with conference implications on the line. USI broke 12 school records this weekend and placed seventh among the highly competitive field.
 
The inaugural 2022-2023 season ended with both squads placing last place at the Summit League Championships. USI has made tremendous strides in year two of the program’s existence putting together an impressive showing in Minneapolis.
 
Day 1
Wednesday featured the one-meter dive and the two relay events. The Eagles representative for 200 yard medley freestyle relay featured sophomore Garrett Crist (Bargersville, Indiana), freshman Demarkus Darensbourg (Overland Park, Kansas), freshman Cole Baker (Springville, Indiana), and Gabriel Groves (New Carlisle, Indiana) who broke the school record (1:31.40).
 
The Eagles swimmers went two for two breaking records as 800 yard freestyle relay of freshman Sam Smith (Trafalgar, Indiana), sophomore Jack Hannon (Lowell, Indiana), sophomore Creed Loy (Knoxville, Tennessee), and sophomore Connor Harden (Centennial, Colorado) also etched their names in history (6:57.28).
 
USI missed the A-finals in the one-meter event. However, sophomore Lane Pollock (Boonville, Indiana) scored an impressive 250.25. Senior Donnevun Banks (Evansville, Indiana) had a big weekend right behind Pollock with a score of 250.15.
 
Day 2
The men finished day two with three standout performances in freestyle events that all broke school records. Smith got the Eagles going making the finals and recording a blazing 500 yard performance (4:35.12) in the B final. Baker continued to get better as the season progressed with an impressive 50 yard freestyle time (20.79).
 
Moreover, he recorded an even quicker 50 yard freestyle time as the first leg of 200 yard freestyle relay (20.71). The relay team of Baker, Crist, Smith, and Groves teamed up for an epic 200 yard freestyle finish (1:23.42). The Eagles finished day two in seventh within striking distance of Eastern Illinois University and ahead of St. Thomas University.
 
Day 3
Day three brought two school records, 16 different Eagles recording season bests, and the first diver in program history to reach the Summit League A-Finalist.
 
Freshman Camden Richardson (Spring Hill, Tennessee), sophomore Colton Agdeppa (Redding, California), Darensbourg, and Baker snatched the school record in the 400 yard medley relay (3:23.92). Richardson wasn’t done there as the freshman broke another record in the 100 yard backstroke (50.75).
 
Banks had a monster night under the bright lights recording a finals score of 266.35 in the three meter diving event. This score earned Banks a spot on the podium at seventh place.
 
Day 4
The final day came, and the freshman Smith did something no other Eagles swimmer has done at the Summit League championships, qualify as a A-Finalist in the 200 yard butterfly (1:50.35). He later outdid himself with a quicker time (1:49.92).
 
Four additional Eagle records were set in the 1650 yard freestyle event from freshman Alek Bandy (Salem, Illinois) (16:47.97), sophomore Garrett Crist (Bargersville, Indiana) in the 200 yard backstroke (1:52.52), and Baker in the 100 yard freestyle (45.56).
 
The Eagles final relay standout record was Baker, Darensbourg, Smith, and Groves in the 400 yard freestyle relay (3:05.05).
 
Final Standings

1. Denver
2. Lindenwood
3. South Dakota
4. South Dakota State
5. Nebraska Omaha
6. St. Thomas
7. Southern Indiana
8. Eastern Illinois