GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Seven different Colorado Mesa University Mavericks won individual events while the Mavs took another relay win while extending their team leads on another incredible record-setting, yet quite competitive day of swimming action during the TYR/CMU Invitational at the El Pomar Natatorium.
 
The Mavs also added six more meet records and took five school records off the board throughout the day, highlighted by NCAA Division II Championship automatic qualifying and record-setting times from Ben Sampson and Lily Borgenheimer in the men's and women's 400-yard individual medley.
 
Dejan Urbanek, Katerina Matoskova and graduate transfer Kyle Benjamin also set new CMU records while Mahmoud Elgayar became the first CMU swimmer and the first man in the 12-year history of the meet to win an individual event four times.
 
In the process, the Maverick women extended their lead over Division I Northern Arizona, which had four wins and three new meet records, and the rest of the 7-team field by five points to 114 (854-740).  Meanwhile, the Maverick men swept all six events contested in the evening session and increased their lead over Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference rival Colorado School of Mines and the rest of the 4-team field to 171 points (976-805).
 
Sampson turned in the biggest highlight of the day once again, turning in an altitude-adjusted time of three minutes, 45.23 seconds (3:50.23-actual) to move into the No. 3 spot in NCAA Division II history for the 400 IM in the morning preliminaries.  His actual time also smashed the coming-into-the-day pool record of 3:52.96, set six years prior by Sam Bryant, and was more than nine seconds faster than Bryant's former meet record of 3:59.39, set in 2017.  Sampson, who did not compete in the event during then evening finals session, also took down Bryant's converted school record of 3:47.96, set in the 2016 RMAC Championships that CMU hosted.
 
Benjamin, who joined the Maverick program after an illustrious career at Concordia Irvine, had momentarily held the meet record, racing to a preliminary time of 3:58.02 before Sampson broke it just in the very next heat.
 
Benjamin then came back to win the event during the evening finals by more than four seconds with a time of 3:57.12 (3:52.12-converted) to claim his first Maverick individual win while moving into the No. 3 position of program history behind only Sampson and Bryant.
 
Jacob Troescher also set a NCAA Division II Championship provisional qualifying time of 4:02.06 (3:57.06-converted) to finish third and move to seventh in CMU history.  Freshman Gavyn Tatge also set a "B" cut time of 4:04.77 (3:59.77-converted) in the morning session and took fifth in the finals.
 
In the women's 400 IM, Borgenheimer set a new meet record and NCAA "A" qualifying time of 4:22.23 (4:17.23-converted) in the preliminaries.  The mark broke Alena Rumiantceva's 7-year old meet record of 4:28.35.  Like Sampson, she also scratched out of the finals to concentrate on the 100-yard breaststroke during the evening session.
 
Meanwhile, Davy Brown, Sophia Baines and Amelia Kinnard all set NCAA provisional times to finish second, third and fifth in the finals.  Brown touched in a personal best 4:27.55 (4:22.55-converted) while Bains, a transfer from Carson-Newman, finished in 4:29.01 (4:24.01-converted) to move into the No. 4 spot of program history, a spot behind Brown.
 
Kinnard finished the finals in 4:32.80 after turning in a time of 4:30.39 (4:25.39-converted) in the preliminaries.  She now ranks sixth in CMU lore.  Portia Blackert also reached the finals and finished seventh in 4:38.15.
 
In the night session, Borgenheimer won the 100 breast in 1:03.35 after setting a meet record time of 1:01.97 (1:01.87-converted) in the prelims.  Freshman Tori Bartusiak also set a NCAA provisional time of 1:03.93 (1:03.83-converted) in the morning  to rank third in CMU history.
 
The Mavs' other record-setting efforts came from Urbanek, Matoskova, the women's 400 medley relay team and Sampson as the lead-off leg on the men's relay winning team.
 
Urbanek won the 100 fly in 47.68 seconds and broke Pedro Terres Illescas' meet and school records.  Urbanek's flat time was just quicker than the Spaniard's meet mark of 47.77, set in 2019.  Urbanek's altitude-adjusted time of 47.58 was also quicker than Illescas' school-record of 47.66, set earlier in that calendar year.
 
Meanwhile, Lane Austin and John Walgast had both set NCAA provisional qualifying times in the prelims before tying for third in the finals with times of 49.60.  Walgast touched in 48.99 seconds (48.89-converted) during the prelims to rank eighth in CMU history while Austin, who ranks seventh, finished the prelims in 49.17 seconds (49.07-converted).
 
The women's medley relay squad of Katerina Matoskova, who set the 200 free school record during the morning session, Borgenheimer and freshmen Kiara Borchardt and Ada Qunell posted a time of 3:43.09 (3:42.69-converted) to set the school-record despite being out-touched by NAU's team, which broke the meet and pool records with a time of 3:42.09.
 
In the final event, Sampson posted a 100 back pool, meet and school record time of 46.06 seconds (45.96-converted) leading off the medley relay team that won by more than four seconds in 3:14.30, joining the Maverick women as NCAA relay qualifiers.  Elgayar, Urbanek and Matheus Laperriere, the 200 free winner earlier in the evening, were also on that relay.
 
Laperriere won his event in 1:38.02 (1:36.82-converted) while Walgast also set a NCAA provisional time of 1:40.88 (1:39.68-converted) to finish second.  Jeremy Koch also had a "B" cut time of 1:40.61 (1:39.41-converted) in the morning preliminaries to move into eighth in CMU history before scratching out of the finals.
 
Minutes earlier, Matoskova had won the women's 200 free in 1:50.48 out-touching NAU's Helena Robla and Maverick freshman Olivia Hansson, who all finished within three tenths of a second of one another.
Matoskova finished the prelims in 1:49.87 (1:48.67-converted) to break teammate Lauren White's converted school mark of 1:49.18.  White also improved upon her PR time in the morning, touching in 1:49.93 (1:48.73-converted) as one of five Mavs who set NCAA provisional times.
 
Hansson finished the finals in 1:50.78 (1:49.58-converted) to move into fourth in CMU history and place third while Qunell finished fifth in 1:51.60 (1:50.40-converted) to go into sixth in CMU history.  Ruby Bottai also won the consolation final in 1:52.84 (1:51.64-converted) to move into tenth in CMU history.

Elgayar won the 100 breast in 54.81 seconds to become a 4-time champion in that event and had a quicker NCAA "B" cut time of 54.72 (54.62-converted) in the prelims.  Freshman Mauricio Posadas was second in 55.90.
 
Andrew Scoggin also claimed an event win taking the 100 back in 48.45 seconds ahead of teammate Lane Austin (49.02).  Both were NCAA "B" cut performers.
 
Elsewhere, Borchardt set a NCAA "B" cut time of 56.00 seconds (55.90-converted) in the 100 fly to move into No. 3 spot of CMU lore in that discipline.
 
In the 100 back, Matoskova finished second in 55.44 seconds while White was fourth in 56.27.  Both set faster NCAA "B" cut times in the morning with Matoskova finishing in 55.29 (55.19-converted) while White finished in 55.55 (55.45-converted).
 
The final day of the meet, which will include action in six more events, will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday.  The finals session will begin at 4 p.m., an hour earlier than the previous two nights.