COLUMBIA, Ky. -- Sporting a deep and talented roster prior to the start of the 2025-26 season, the Shawnee State men's swimming program showed off that depth Friday evening as the Bears posted a runner-up finish and five showings inside the top-five overall, with both of its 200 yard freestyle relay teams finishing in the top-five (second and fifth), Josiah Changar and Kutay Ababay tying for fourth in the 50 yard freestyle and the 400 yard medley relay squad claiming a fifth-place showing of its own following the opening day of the Dr. Dillery Fall Frenzy, which is being held at the Doris and Bob Holloway Natatorium on the campus of Lindsey Wilson University in Columbia, Ky.

Shawnee State, who scored 197 points on the opening day of the meet, currently sits second in the six-team field as a result of its massive Day 1 point total. The Bears only trail host Lindsey Wilson on points heading into the final day of the event.
In accumulating its 197-point total, the Bears joined the Blue Raiders as the only teams to place two relay units in the top-five of the 200 yard freestyle relay. Shawnee State ultimately posted 84 points between its A, B and C teams, alone, in the 200 yard freestyle.

In that race, the 'A' group of Ababay, Changar, Tony Goodwin and Malik Nelson clicked off a time of 1:27.05 to finish second, while the 'B' group of Evan Ater, Robert Gibson, Josiah Ramdeen and Alex Ray posted a time of 1:31.27 to finish fifth. Only the Lindsey Wilson 'A' squad, who collected a 1:26.61 and is coming off of a sixth-place finish nationally at the 2025 NAIA Men's Swimming and Diving National Championships, swam faster than the Bears' 'A' squad on Friday evening. The Shawnee State 'B' squad, meanwhile, swam faster than three different universities' 'A' squads while coming within a quarter-of-a-second from swimming faster than a fourth 'A' squad.

The 400 yard medley relay 'A' unit, which consisted of Ababay, Gibson, Nelson and Luke Lunsford, added in a 3:45.20 to finish fifth with the 400 medley 'B' squad of Ater, Changar, Goodwin and Ramdeen posting a 3:47.83 to place 10th. Those two squads posted an additional 42 points to the overall total.

In individual events, Changar and Ababay each scored 14.5 points apiece with their performances in the 50 yard freestyle, posting 22-second times to tie for fourth in a deep 45-swimmer field. Nelson, who swam a 22.27 in the same event, finished ninth to finish in the top 20 percent of the field and score nine points himself. Alex Ray added a point for the Bears by placing in the 16th and final scoring position in the event.

Ramdeen and Goodwin, who finished seventh and 10th in the 50 yard freestyle, respectively, posted 19 additional points with their finishes Friday evening while Lunsford and Allan Gonzalez also finished inside points positions, adding in five tallies combined between their finishes in the event.

In the 500 free, Gibson collected six points while Thomas Kessler obtained two tallies himself to conclude the overall tally for the Bears following the opening day of competition.

Shawnee State will be back in action Saturday morning at 9 a.m. for the second and final day of the 13th Annual Dr. Dillery Fall Frenzy, with action commencing throughout the day. Updates will be provided on www.ssubears.com as well as various social media handles and platforms.