The Wingate University men’s swimming team captured its third straight Blue Grass Mountain Conference championship Saturday night, edging the University of Tampa by 12 points. Bulldog senior Mason Norman (Duluth, Ga.) earned BGMC Swimmer of the Year laurels.
The Bulldogs knew they had to beat the Spartans in the final event of the week, the 400 Freestyle Relay. Three seniors and a freshman made sure Wingate would take home its third overall team trophy, as the Bulldog quartet touched first with an NCAA Division II “A” Cut time of 3:00.51.
Wingate’s 400 Freestyle Relay team (in order of appearance) included senior Gus Chagas (Recife, Brazil), senior Daniel De Francisco (Cali, Colombia), freshman Rory Julyan (Cape Town, South Africa) and Norman. On Thursday, Norman swam the fastest 50 Freestyle in NCAA Division II this year with a 20.01. He swam his first relay 50 Saturday in 20.87.
Norman and Chagas made sure their final appearances on the BGMC stage would be remembered, as they finished one-two in the 100 Freestyle. Both Norman (44.25) and Chagas (44.95) recorded “A” Cuts in the race. Norman swam a morning-best 44.48 in the preliminaries.
In the 100 Breaststroke Friday, Norman was second with a time of 57.15. The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® candidate posted an “A” Cut in the 100 Breaststroke at December’s SCAD College Invitational.
On Thursday, Norman earned an individual BGMC title and helped the Bulldog 200 Free Relay team touch first to open the first full day of competition. Norman won the 50 Freestyle with a NCAA Division II “A” Cut time of 20.01.
Earlier, Norman swam a scorching 19.72 anchor leg as Wingate posted an “A” Cut in the 200 Free Relay with a victorious time of 1:22.20. Chagas, junior Dwight Richardson (Newport News, Va.) and freshman newcomer Spencer Waganaar (Satellite Beach, Fla.) joined Norman on the 200 Free Relay team Thursday.
