Morningside Men Post Strong Times at Iowa Western

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa – The Morningside University men's swim team turned in several impressive swims during Saturday's triangular at Iowa Western Community College, facing the host Reivers and Sterling College.

The Mustangs opened the meet with a narrow runner-up finish in the 200-yard medley relay, as the "A" squad of Santiago Vilches, Justin Bay, Pedro Fernandes, and John Spicer clocked 1:37.06 seconds, just four-hundredths behind IWCC.

Morningside's best individual showing came from Melle van Veen, who won the 500-yard freestyle in commanding fashion with a time of 5:00.87, finishing nearly 26 seconds ahead of the next swimmer. Jake Bolda earned a runner-up finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle at 10:40.99, while Ethan Van Tassel added a third-place effort in 11:56.95 to give the Mustangs two podium finishers in the distance event.

Sprinters Bay and Fernandes led the way in the 200 freestyle, finishing first and second with times of 1:49.39 and 1:49.58, respectively, as Morningside swept the top three spots with van Veen taking third. Spicer turned in another strong performance in the 100 freestyle, finishing second in 47.90, while Vilches and Fernandes both placed in the top five in the 200 individual medley.

In the 100 backstroke, Vilches clocked 53.40 to take second, while Zoccolan followed in third at 55.63.

Morningside's "A" relay capped the meet with a second-place time of 3:19.43 in the 400 freestyle relay, featuring van Veen, Fernandes, Mateus Kozlowski, and Spicer. 

The Mustangs return to the Hindman-Hobbs pool in two weeks, hosting Iowa Lakes, in a dual that has been relocated to Sioux City, on Oct. 25.