WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The McKendree University men's swimming and diving teams closed out competition here Saturday on the third and final day of the Purdue Invitational held at the Doris Z. Holloway Pool on the Purdue campus.
 
On the final day of action, the Bearcat men recorded an NCAA automatic qualifying time in the 200 butterfly by freshman Jackson Lustig (Milwaukee, Wis./Pius XI), seven NCAA 'B' cut times and 14 season best times when factoring in both the preliminaries and finals.
 
For the three-day meet, the Bearcats scored a total of 309.5 points to finish sixth out of six teams. McKendree was the lone Division II school competing at the event.
 
Purdue University won the event with 902.5 points, while the University of Louisville was second with 768 points and Northwestern University was third with 709 points.
 
For the three days of the event, the Bearcats recorded a total of 29 NCAA 'B' cut times and one NCAA automatic qualifying time. Senior Gregg Lichinsky (West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley) and graduate student Xander Skinner (Namibia, Africa/Windhoek Afrikaans Private School) each earned seven 'B' cut times, while sophomore Filipe Pinheiro (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Colegio Ao Cubo) earned five 'B' cut times and junior DaVante Carey (Nassau, Bahamas/Queens College) had four 'B' cut times.
 
Here are the NCAA 'B' cut times earned by the Bearcat men's swimmers at the Purdue Invitational.
 
50 Freestyle
Skinner, 20.08
Caleb Law (Anchorage, Alaska/Robert Service), 20.18
Carey, 20.49
Lichinsky, 20.49
 
100 Freestyle
Lichinsky, 43.28
Skinner, 44.02 (relay leg)
Taras Zherebetskyy (Alghero, Italy/ITS "Angelo Roth"), 44.49
Arthur Souza (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Colegio Saber), 44.84
Law, 45.42
 
200 Freestyle
Skinner, 1:38.19
Souza, 1:38.59
Alireza Yavari (Isfahan, Iran/Shayestegan), 1:39.64
Leo Gandaria-Hernandez (Milwaukee, Wis./Greenfield), 1:39.85
 
1,000 Freestyle
Charlie Fraser-Allen (London, England/Highgate Wood Secondary), 9:25.49
 
1,650 Freestyle
Fraser-Allen, 15:52.61
 
100 Backstroke
Patryk Rozenek (Radlin, Poland/Zsoms Raciborz), 48.20
Carey, 48.59
 
200 Backstroke
Rozenek, 1:45.49
 
100 Breaststroke
Filipe Pinheiro, 53.21
 
200 Breaststroke
Pinheiro, 1:56.58
 
100 Butterfly
Lustig, 47.65
Lichinsky, 47.69
 
200 Butterfly
Lustig, 1:44.72 – 'A' Cut Time
Noah Javens (West Lafayette, Ind./William Henry Harrison), 1:49.96
 
200 IM
Pinheiro, 1:49.09
 
200 Freestyle Relay
1:19.03 – Lichinsky, Law, Carey, Skinner
 
400 Freestyle Relay
2:54.46 – Skinner, Souza, Zherbetskyy, Lichinsky
 
200 Medley Relay
1:27.11 - Rozenek,  Pinheiro, Lichinsky, Skinner
 
400 Medley Relay
3:12.47 – Carey, Pinheiro, Lichinsky, Skinner
 
Along with recording a total of 29 NCAA 'B' cut times at the Purdue Invitational, the Bearcats also next men's school records in the 200 backstroke (Roznek, 1:45.49), 50 breaststroke (Pinheiro, 25.00), 100 breaststroke (Pinheiro, 53.21), 200 butterfly (Lustig, 1:44.72) and 200 IM (Pinheiro, 1:49.89).
 
The third and final day of action at the Purdue Invitational began with platform diving, but the Bearcats didn't have any competitors in the event.
 
Fraser-Allen would record the first season time on Saturday as he swam an NCAA 'B' timeof 15:52.61 in the 1,650 freestyle to finish in 13th place.
 
Four season best times were recorded in the next event, which was the 200 backstroke. In the 200 backstroke, Rozenek finished fourth in the A Final with an NCAA 'B' time of 1:45.49, while Carey was second in the C Final with a time of 1:49.67 and sophomore Colton Grimes (Champaign, Ill./Champaign Centennial) was sixth in the C Final with a time of 1:52.18. Senior Macoy Neinas (Sturgeon Bay, Wis./Southern Door) was eighth in the C Final with a time of 1:54.96.
 
The Bearcats recorded six season best times in the 100 freestyle as Lichinsky was fourth in the A Final with a 'B' cut time of 43.28, while Skinner was fifth in the B Final with a 'B' cut time of 44.54 and Zherebetskyy was second in the C Final with a 'B' cut time of 44.49. The other season best times in the event came from Souza (45.22), Law (45.42) and Yavari (46.11).
 
Pinheiro finished tied for sixth in the A Final of the 200 breaststroke with a time of 1:58.72, while senior Garrett Schrock (Peoria, Ill./Peoria) was fifth in C Final with a time of 2:04.00.
 
Perhaps the performance of the day was turned by Lustig as he recorded an automatic qualifying time of 1:44.72 in the 200 butterfly to finish third in the A Final. The time was not only an automatic qualifying mark, the time was also a new school record. The other 'B' cut time in the event was recorded by Javens, who swam a time of 1:49.99 to finish sixth in the 'B' Final. Freshman Nick Khatkovyy (Glenview, Ill./Glenbook South) was third in the D Final with a time of 1:54.80.
 
The final event was the 400 freestyle relay as McKendree's 'A' relay team of Skinner, Souza, Zherbetskyy and Lichinsky recorded an NCAA 'B' time of 2:54.46.  

The Purdue Invitational was the final meet of the first semester for the Bearcats will return to action on Jan. 8 at 12 p.m. at the McKendree Metro Rec Plex pool against Washington University in St. Louis. The Bears are ranked seventh in the latest CSCAA Division III poll.
 
Here are the Bearcats' individual results from Saturday's third and final day of the Purdue Invitational.
 
1,650 Freestyle
13. Fraser-Allen, 15:52.61 – 'B' Time
 
200 Backstroke
A Final
4. Rozenek, 1:45.49 – 'B' Time / 1:46.54 prelims
C Final
18 (2). Carey, 1:49.67 / 1:50.57 prelims
22 (6). Grimes, 1:52.18 / 1:51.66 prelims
24 (8). Neinas, 1:54.96 / 1:53.62 prelims
D Final
26 (2). Caleb Wagner, 1:54.01 / 1:54.12
 
100 Freestyle
A Final
4. Lichinsky, 43.28 – 'B' Time / 43.69 prelims
B Final
13 (5). Skinner, 44.54 – 'B' Time / 44.76 prelims
C Final
18 (2). Zherebetskyy, 44.49 – 'B' Time / 44.83 prelims
21. (5). Souza, 45.22 – 'B' Time / 44.84 prelims
24. (8). Law, 45.42 – 'B' Time / 45.68 prelims
D Final
32 (8). Yavari, 46.11 / 46.51 prelims
Prelims
34. Gandaria-Hernandez, 46.68
41. Khatkovyy, 47.11
42. Robert Ross, 48.57
44. Noah Fishel, 49.20
45. Owen Brubaker, 49.18
 
200 Breaststroke
A Final
T6. Pinheiro, 1:58.72 / 1:58.73 prelims
C Final
21 (5). Schrock, 2:04.00 / 2:04.38 prelims
D Final
32 (8). Ethan Hanson, 2:07.06 / 2:08.52 prelims
 
200 Butterfly
A Final
3. Lustig, 1:44.72 – 'A' Time (School Record) / 1:46.86 prelims
B Final
14 (6). Javens, 1:49.99 – 'B' Time / 1:49.96 prelims
D Final
27 (3). Khatkovyy, 1:54.80 / 1:55.69 prelims
Prelims
29. John Bodden, 1:57.08
 
400 Freestyle Relay
4. McKendree 'A' – 2:54.45 – 'B' Time – Skinner, Souza, Zherbetskyy, Lichinsky
12. McKendree 'B' – 3:01.07 – Law, Yavari, Gandaria-Hernandez, Carey
20. McKendree 'C' – 3:07.00 – Fraser-Allen, Javens, Pinheiro, Schrock
22. McKendree 'D' – 3:08.70 – Grimes, Khatovyy, Rozenek, Bodden