Truman State Senior Jerod Simek’s national meet quest began on Wednesday night as he placed 16th in the men’s 1000 meter freestyle event at the NCAA Division II Swimming & Diving Championships.

Simek swam 9:24.36 in the first of three events that he has qualified for during his final championship meet.

He scored one team point with the 16th place finish just ahead of Florida Southern’s Raul Garrastazu and four hundredths of a second behind Grand Canyon (Ariz.) University’s John Feely.

Mark Rubin, a senior from Incarnate Word (Texas) won the men’s 1000 with a time of 9:02.85.

Simek will return to the pool on Friday for the 500 freestyle.

Courtesy Truman State University