Five school records were rewritten, and 40 new personal best times were clocked as the Barton Community College men's swimming team rode into the holiday break with their best outing of the season at the Wheaton Invitational held at the Lederhouse Natatorium in Wheaton, Illinois.
Battling the eight-team field as the lone two-year program, the Cougars compiled a third-place total of 528 in the 18-events scored. UW-Stevens College claimed the team title with 987 points outlasting host school Wheaton College's 604.5-point total.
Enzo Vogt da Silva, Jethro Irvine and William McCabe posted sensational results over the weekend as the trio combined for all five individual titles, one team crown and all five new program records.
Vogt da Silva guided the Barton scoring with a team high 57 points through three individual and four team events. The sophomore long distance specialist scooped the first of his pair of individual titles rewriting his previous 500-yard freestyle school record with a stoppage of 4:38.70 besting the 27-entry field. Vogt da Silva capped his two-gold weekend taking the longest race in the 1650-yard freestyle touching the wall in 16:54.92 for a new season best mark.
Irvine joined fellow teammate Vogt da Silva as the other lone Cougar to claim multi event titles in the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly. The sophomore broke the first of his two records turning in a 44.96 in the 100-yard freestyle while rewriting his prior program record top time of 49.08 in the 100-yard butterfly concluding the weekend with 40 points.
Earning a top-three finish in all three individual events, McCabe put a bow on the individual record-setting weekend, earning the program record in the 200-yard freestyle. The freshman touched the wall in 1:41.21 rewriting Irvine's short lived program record set earlier in prelims by 15-tenths of a second.
In the team events, Barton's final record breaker came in the 800-yard freestyle with the trio of Vogt da Silva, Irvine and McCabe teaming up with Dominik Strba posting the top mark time of 6:55.41 outlasting the field of nine.
The Cougars will head into the holiday break having nearly two months off before returning to the pool January 28th for the Nebraska duals taking on Nebraska Wesleyan University and Coe College.