MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Junior
Umitcan Gures won the 100 butterfly, the Crimson's 200 freestyle relay posted an NCAA A cut time, and five Crimson student-athletes posted individual NCAA B cut times as Harvard University men's swimming and diving competed on the third day of the 2021 Minnesota Invitational on Friday at the University of Minnesota's Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.
Competing against No. 1 Texas, No. 3 California, No. 4 Michigan, No. 17 Wisconsin, Arizona, and Minnesota on day three of four at the invitational, Gures captured the 100 fly with a 45.15, coming within 0.02 of the school record (45.13). In the final race of the day, Harvard's 200 free relay of senior
Raphael Marcoux, senior
Dean Farris, Gures, and senior
Mahlon Reihman clocked an NCAA qualifying time of 1:16.61.
Alongside Gures in the 100 fly, Farris and senior
Jake Johnson both registered NCAA B cut times. Junior
Jared Simpson and sophomore
Will Grant notched NCAA B cut times in the 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke respectively. In 1-meter diving, first-year
Adam Wesson (323.40), sophomore
Luke Foster (322.90), and senior
Hal Watts (313.05) all topped the NCAA standard score of 300.
For the weekend, Gures (50 free, 100 fly), Farris (50 free, 100 fly), and Johnson (200 IM, 100 fly) have all posted NCAA B cut times in a pair of individual events. Gures and Farris have also helped the Crimson compile an NCAA B cut in the 200 medley relay and an A cut in the 200 free relay.
Harvard Highlights
- Junior Umitcan Gures won the 100-yard butterfly with an NCAA B cut time of 45.15, coming within 0.02 seconds of the school record of 45.13. Gures edged Michigan's Gal Cohen Groumi (45.16) by 0.01 seconds for the victory. Gures also clocked an NCAA B cut time of 45.79 in the morning's prelims, surpassing the NCAA B standard time of 47.43.
- Harvard registered an NCAA A cut time in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a mark of 1:16.61 for third place, beating the NCAA qualifying time of 1:17.07 and coming within 0.18 of the school record of 1:16.43. Senior Raphael Marcoux, senior Dean Farris, junior Umitcan Gures, and senior Mahlon Reihman raced for the Crimson in the relay.
- Seniors Dean Farris and Jake Johnson also both recorded NCAA B cut times in the 100 fly in both the finals and prelims alongside Gures. In the finals, Farris took fifth place with a 46.35 after posting a 46.17 in the prelims. Swimming in the B final, Johnson won that race for ninth overall with a 46.20 after swimming a 46.87 in the prelims.
- Junior Jared Simpson tallied NCAA B cut times in both the finals (53.52) and prelims (53.56) of the 100-yard breaststroke. Simpson came in 12th place in the finals, topping the NCAA B standard time of 54.27 with both swims.
- Sophomore Will Grant registered NCAA B cut times in both the finals (47.02) and prelims (47.54) of the 100-yard backstroke. Grant placed seventh in the A final as he eclipsed the NCAA B standard time of 47.77 twice on the day.
- In the 1-meter diving finals, first-year Adam Wesson led Harvard with a score of 323.40 for fourth place. Sophomore Luke Foster (322.90) and senior Hal Watts (313.05) followed in fifth and sixth place respectively. All three topped the NCAA standard score of 300.
- First-year Ben Littlejohn paced the Crimson in the 200-yard freestyle final with a 1:36.96 for 14th place. Sophomore Marcus Holmquist supported him with a 1:37.21 for 19th. Coming into the day, the Crimson's top time in the event on the year was 1:39.34.
Next Up
Harvard closes competition at the Minnesota Invitational tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 4. Saturday competition will include platform diving, the 1,650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, and 400 free relay with prelims followed by distance racing at 11:00 a.m. ET (10:00 a.m. CT), diving at 2:00 p.m. ET (1:00 p.m. CT), and finals at 7:00 p.m. ET (6:00 p.m. CT).
