2023 Patriot League Champs: Mimi Watts and Lily Mead Collect Second Golds of Meet

2023 PATRIOT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• February 15-18, 2023
• Kinney Natatorium – Lewisburg, PA
• 25 Yards (SCY)
• Defending Champions:
  • Women: Navy (11x)
  • Men Navy (18x)
• Start Times: 10am (ET) prelims/6pm (ET) finals
• Event Schedule
• Championship Central
• Live Results
• Live Stream

Women’s Recap

Just 24 hours removed from giving American its first Patriot League title in 12 years, Mimi Watts was at it again. She tore to victory in the women’s 100 fly, clocking 52.76 to break her program’s record. The previous school record also belonged to her in 52.81, which she swam at this meet last year, where she finished second.

As in her 50 free victory, Watts won the race decisively–she was that only swimmer under 53 seconds, as Navy’s Caroline Irwin touched in 53.15 for silver. Rounding out the podium was Army’s Meghan Cole, who was runner-up in the 50 free. She swam a lifetime best 53.79 to earn her medal.

Loyola junior Lily Mead also earned her second individual title of the meet. She won the 100 backstroke by over a second, ripping a lifetime best of 53.55. Mead won this event last year in 53.71. BU’s Lara Mitchell traded up from her bronze medal in 2022, posting a personal best of 54.58 for silver. There was a tie for third, as Esme Hunter (Bucknell) and Layne Peterson (Army) both stopped the clock at 55.14.

Interestingly, women from five different schools won the five individual events raced this session. Along with Watts’ win for American and Mead’s win for Loyola, BU’s Haley Newman won the 400 IM, Navy’s Cameron Horner grabbed the 200 free, and Aurelie Migault won the 100 breaststroke for Army.

Newman, a freshman, won the 400 IM by a considerable margin. She swam a personal best of 4:16.04 for the win, stopping the clock over three and a half seconds ahead of runner up Sarah Hardy.

Migault, who was second in the 100 breast last year, earned the win in a lifetime best of 1:00.76. The swim is also an Academy record, lowering it from the 1:00.97 Migault swam at this season’s Army vs. Navy meet.

It was a close race for the 200 free title between teammates Horner and Gabi Baldwin. Horner held off a late charge from Baldwin, who split a field best 27.29 on her final 50. Horner took the win in 1:47.59, while Baldwin swam 1:47.71 for silver, a best time by over half a second.

Navy won the day’s relay, the 200 free, as well, beating Army by over a second. Irwin (23.03), Maya Novack (22.80), Hannah Pratt (22.97), and Tiffany Shields (22.87) combined for 1:31.67. At 1:32.73, Army was well back, but freshman Molly Webber did have the field’s best rolling-split at 22.61. The fastest lead off belonged to Watts, who opened American’s eighth place relay in 22.90, the only one in the field under 23 seconds.

The Midshipmen continue to tighten their grip on first place; currently, they are 143 points ahead of second-place Army. Bucknell is still comfortably in third, while BU has opened a small gap over Lehigh for fourth.

Men’s Recap

The wins weren’t quite as spread out on the men’s side, with swimmers from Army, Navy, and Loyola all notching individual wins.

The closest race of the night was the 100 breaststroke, where Army’s Kohen Rankin out-touched Navy’s Jackson Schultz by three-hundredths, 52.61 to 52.64. Rankin was out first at the 50, splitting 24.32, while Schultz was second in 24.68. The Navy senior made his move on the back half of the race, out-splitting Rankin by .33 seconds. Rankin held on for the win though, and his time is a new Academy record. Kyle Falkstrom rounded out the podium in third (53.83), just off the BU school record of 53.75 he swam in prelims.

Loyola earned two individual wins, courtesy of Max Verheyen (400 IM) and Patrick Hayburn (100 back). In the 400 IM, Verheyen was running eighth by more than a second at the 200-yard mark. He pulled himself back to the field in the breaststroke, splitting a 1:04.27 to turn for the final leg in fifth. He ripped 51.24 on the freestyle leg, roaring to victory by .93 seconds in a personal best 3:50.22.

Army’s Clayton Bernauer split 25.88 on the final 50, passing Navy freshman George Brooker with this final push to grab second in 3:51.15. Brooker took third in 3:51.28, .13 back of Bernauer.

Sophomore Patrick Hayburn won the 100 backstroke in a personal best of 47.73. It’s not just an improvement on time for Hayburn, but in the standings. In 2022, he didn’t make the ‘A’ final, instead winning the ‘B’ final in 48.24–a time that would’ve placed second had he been in the championship heat.

Navy won two individual events in the pool, 1-meter diving, and the 200 free relay. Jonah Harm got things started for Navy in the first event, repeating as 100 fly champion in 45.87. Navy went 1-2 in the event, as junior Pat Colwell took second, exactly a second behind Harm. Bucknell’s butterfly duo of John Gehrig and Chris Fabian also finished together, earning third and fourth in 47.73 and 47.95. It was tightly bunched in the middle of the field, as third through sixth all finished within three-tenths of each other.

The Midshipmen’s next win came from Everet Andrew, who defended his title in the 200 freestyle. The sophomore clocked 1:35.26, the only swimmer to break 1:36. It was Tanner Falls of Army who grabbed silver (1:36.03) while Navy picked up more points courtesy of Conor Cranfield‘s third place (1:36.62). This was a big event points wise for the Black Knights: they put four men into the ‘A’ final and finished 2-5-6-7.

After the last individual swimming event of the day, Army did still hold the lead in the standings, 520.5 to 514.5. That was when Navy’s diving went to work, though. The Midshipmen divers placed 1-2-4-5, amassing 66 points, with Blake Shaw earning the win. That makes a boards sweep for Shaw, who won the 1-meter earlier in the meet. Army had three divers of their own in the championship flight, with Isaac Newman, Alex Zhang, and Adam Elahmadi finishing 3-6-8.

The 200 free relay was an exciting race, as Navy, Army, and Loyola all had a chance to win. Navy won gold, as Harm (19.67), Austin Lockhart (19.61), Andrew (19.59), and Garrett McGovern (19.66) swam 1:18.53. They actually held a slim lead the entire race, and managed to hold off a late charge from Army. The Black Knights fielded Ben Vorthmann (20.07), Owen Harlow (19.29), Rankin (19.77), and William Rankin (19.48), touching in a new Academy record of 1:18.61.

Loyola, the defending champions in the event, were in the hunt for much of the race, but ultimately couldn’t match the depth of the other two teams. They earned bronze in 1:19.36, fending off Bucknell, who finished fourth in 1:19.51.

Entering the final day, Navy holds a 33 point lead over Army. However, it’s notable that even with one less individual finals swim, Army was holding onto a lead before diving and the relay. They have some ground to make up, but the meet certainly isn’t over. There’s a world in which it comes down to the final event: the 400 free relay. In their dual meet, Army beat Navy in that final relay–and if the relay does decide the meet, it could be a race for the ages.

TEAM SCORES THRU DAY 3

Women:

1. Navy – 543.5
2. Army – 400.5
3. Bucknell – 324.5
4. BU – 242
5. Lehigh – 223
6. Loyola – 195
7. American – 162
8. Colgate – 150.5
9. Holy Cross – 118
10. Lafayette – 55

Men:

1. Navy – 627.5
2. Army – 594.5
3. Bucknell – 366.5
4. Loyola – 318
5. BU – 147
6. Lehigh – 133.5
7. American – 121.5
8. Lafayette – 96
9. Holy Cross – 89
10. Colgate – 85.5