Cougar swimmers conclude day one of CSCAA National Invitational Championship

ELKHART, Indiana — Thirteen BYU swimmers competed in Thursday's prelim events at the CSCAA National Invitational Championship, with five individual swimmers qualifying for the final events at the Elkhart Health & Aquatics Center. 

At the conclusion of day one's events, the women's team is in 44th place with a total of 9.50 points, while the men sit in 13th place with 85 points.

Andrew Eliason and Diego Camacho began the events for the Cougars, as both would compete in the 50-yard backstroke, finishing in the top-15 of all competitors, qualifying for the B finals. Eliason placed 13th with a 22.62, while Camacho swam a 22.65 to come in 15th place in the prelims. In the B finals, Eliason went on to swim a 22.48 to come in at 3rd place for the division. Camacho would place 5th in the division, posting a 22.61. 

In the 50-yard butterfly, Jacob Ballard and Abraham Zimmerman would join Eliason in the competition, as each swimmer went on to finish in the top-50 for the event. Eliason would swim a 22.17 for the Cougars to come in 34th place. Ballard posted a 45th place 22.37, with Zimmerman tying for 46th, swimming a 22.41. 

Max Cannon also competed for the Cougars in Thursday's prelim 200-yard IM, swimming a 1:54.22 to place 63rd in the event. 

To close out the prelim events for the men's team, Will Bonnet and Emerson Edwards competed in the 50-yard breaststroke. Bonnett led the way for BYU in the event, coming in tied for 8th place after swimming a 24.80 to qualify for the finals. Edwards also qualified for the finals, coming in 17th place, posting a 25.19. In the finals, Bonnett finished with a 24.70, tying for 7th place in the A finals, while Edwards' 25.20 landed him a 7th place finish in the B finals. 

The finals also featured two relay events for the men, beginning with a team of Bonnett, Zimmerman, Ballard and Edwards competing in the 200-yard freestyle relay. There, they would place 13th with a 1:21.43. Another team of Camacho, Cannon, Zimmerman and Ballard also went on to compete in 400-yard medley relay, this time coming in 15th place with a 3:16.47. 

For the women, Emma Marusakova began the events for the Cougars in the 50-yard backstroke, swimming a 42nd place 26.38. Megan Bergstrom followed up Marusakova's performance with a 26th place 4:54.58 in the 500-yard freestyle. Victoria Schreiber also competed in the event, swimming a 28th place 4:54.66, while Geldmacher went on to place 33rd, swimming a 4:56.36. 

Marusakova also competed in the 50-yard butterfly, swimming a 27th place 24.96. Mackenzie Miller and Halli Williams closed out the prelim events for the women's team, as Miller would compete in the 50-yard breaststroke, ultimately swimming a 27th place 29.05. The 50-yard freestyle saw Williams qualify for the final event, swimming a 13th place 23.12. In the B finals, Williams went on to post an 8th place 23.46. 

The women also had a team of Marusakova, Miller, Schreiber and Williams compete in the 200-yard freestyle relay, posting a 1:53.12 to tie for 34th. 

The Cougars will begin day two of the CSCAA NICs Friday morning at 9:30 a.m. EST, with the final events beginning later that evening at 6 p.m. EST. A live stream of the event will be available to watch on the CSCAA website. In addition, BYU specific results can be followed on the BYU Swim and Dive social media pages on Instagram and Twitter.