Huston Shatters School Record on First Day of Trailblazer Invitational

Thursday, November 16

St. George, UT / UT HPC Pool

All Day

Utah Tech Trailblazer Invitational

Drew Huston, Queen & King of the Pool, 092223

Photo by: Eyasu Betwos

Huston Shatters School Record on First Day of Trailblazer Invitational

11/17/2023 11:00:00 AM | Swimming and Diving

ST. GEORGE, Utah — Sophomore Drew Huston shattered the school record in the men's 100-yard backstroke and swam the fifth-fastest 200 individual medley time in program history to highlight action for Cal Poly swimming and diving during the first day of the Utah Tech Trailblazer Invitational on Thursday at UT HPC Pool.

Huston swam the leadoff leg on Cal Poly's 400 medley relay, posting a time of 47.11 seconds to break Gennady Sytnik's 2022 school record (47.66) in the 100 back by over half a second. Huston's time also met the NCAA B standard in the event. In August at the 2023 Speedo Junior National Championships in Irvine, the Fox Island, Wash. native booked his ticket to the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Indianapolis on June 15-23 by swimming a lifetime best in the 100-meter back.

Prior to Thursday's leadoff relay time in the 100 back, Huston sat at No. 3 on Cal Poly's all-time list in the event, swimming a time of 48.30 seconds to place fifth at the 2023 MPSF Championships this past February as a true freshman.

Sophomores Alex Seybold, Finn Schlamp and Jonathan Butler swam the other three legs on the men's 400 medley relay, which placed third at the meet with a time of 3:15.54, just .09 seconds off the 2010 school record (3:15.45).

Individually, Huston also secured a third-place finish in the 200 IM by swimming the fifth-fastest time in program history (1:48.94).

Butler earned fifth in the men's 50 freestyle with a lifetime best (20.78), while sophomores Lucas Meneghetti and Cameron Schwantes took fifth (4:33.59) and sixth (4:33.69) respectively in the 500 free.

On the opening day of the Trailblazer Invitational, freshman Olivia Sundgren had a standout performance for the Cal Poly women, capturing fifth in the 500 free with a time of 4:55.80. Sophomore Courtney Cross also secured a 13th-place finish in the event (5:04.10).

During preliminaries Friday morning, 11 Mustangs advanced to the 'A' final in their respective events. Huston (100 back) and senior Ryan Trichler (400 IM) both posted the top time in prelims in their events, while Seybold secured a spot in the 'A' final in two events (100 breaststroke, 400 IM).

Cal Poly will wrap up the second day of the Utah Tech Trailblazer Invitational with finals starting at 4 p.m. Friday. Competition on the final day of the meet begins at 9 a.m. Saturday.