LUBBOCK, Texas - Southwestern Community College freshman Cam Swapsy broke his second school record of the season, highlighting the track & field team’s weekend at the NJCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships at Texas Tech University.
Swapsy kicked off the weekend for the Spartans in the men’s 600 meter run prelims and delivered a school record in his first race at the distance.
Swapsy had previously broken the school record in the 600 yard run. Swapsy tucked in behind Indian Hills’ Raynier Galvez and Western Texas College’s Jahleel Armstrong and stayed with them until the final 100 meters of the race. Swapsy ran 200-meter lap splits of 24.25, 27.42 and 30.47 en route to a final time of 1:22.13, which broke Alex Vandor’s 2019 school record time of 1:22.36. Swapsy, who entered the meet seeded 21st in the field of 22, finished third out of five in his heat and 16th overall. Galvez, the national leader in the event entering the weekend, won the preliminary heat in 1:19.03.
“Cam has really rounded into shape well here toward the end of indoor season,” Scott Vicker said. “After taking a gap year, I think it’s just taken him some time to get readjusted to racing. But he’s run several great races over the past few weeks now. I’m happy for him to get another school record. There’s a big difference from 600 yards to 600 meters, but I thought he ran really well. As he continues to get stronger and can finish the last 100 meters of that race, he’ll see a big improvement. I’m excited to see what he does as we move into outdoor.”
Freshman Zach Roome hit the track next and delivered his best open 800 meter performance of the year in placing 14th overall in the field of 38. Roome entered the meet seeded 26th.
The Sydney, Australia, native ran an indoor personal best time of 1:54.16 with even 200-meter lap splits of 28.40, 28.48, 28.41 and 28.89.
“In terms of pacing, Zach ran an outstanding race,” Vicker said. “That was one of the most even 800 races I’ve ever seen, he just didn’t quite have the finishing kick necessary on Friday to match the first three finishers in his heat, who all advanced to finals. Zach got cut off or bumped three different times during the race, which led to burning some extra energy with constant pace changes. So I’m sure that contributed to not having the kick we’ve come to expect out of him. But overall, I thought he handled the physical nature of the race well and made some good moves. As we watched the race back, we found some things he could have done a little differently that might have made a difference for him, so I’m looking forward to his next opportunity to race the 800 to see him put what he learned to use.”
The Spartans concluded the championships on Saturday afternoon with the men’s 4x800 relay group of Dillon Starlin, Brandon Briley, Swapsy,and Roome. The team had high expectations, hoping to shoot for an All-American top eight placing.
Starlin delivered his best race of the year on the leadoff leg. The freshman in his first year ever of running track sat off the back of the pack for the first 400 meters of his leg, before closing in on the pack on the third lap and then slingshotting himself past three runners in the final 100 meters to put the Spartans into a tight battle for third place at the exchange. Starlin ran a 1:59.7 split, his best split of the year by 4 seconds.
As Briley went to take off in the exchange zone, however, he collided with the outgoing runner from Lake-Sumter College, and the Spartans struggled to make the baton pass. The exchange was eventually made within the exchange zone, but by that time the Spartans had lost all the positioning Starlin had gained them.
Briley, Swapsy and Roome all tried to gain ground and get the Spartans back into position, but it was too big of a challenge to overcome. The Spartans finished 15th in 8:02.41.
“I can’t give Dillon enough praise for how well he ran. He was lights out on that opening leg. I couldn’t have drawn it up any better for him,” Vicker said. “He delivered what we asked of him and more on that leg, so I was really happy for him. We had issues in the exchange zone, and unfortunately, that’s just how it goes sometimes. It’s part of racing and you just have to deal with the adversity. I commend the guys for battling after that. I know it’s tough when you feel like you’re in a deficit and you have to make it up. They tried their best and showed a lot of heart. I think this disappointment will really fuel them as we head into the outdoor season.”
Southwestern will open the outdoor season on either March 21 or March 22 at Iowa Western Community College, with the date being determined based upon weather.