Navy vs Columbia (M)
- Saturday, January 22, 2022
- New York, N.Y.
- Results
- Score: Navy 169, Columbia 131
Courtesy: Navy Athletics
NEW YORK, N.Y. –– The Navy men’s swimming and diving team (8-2) placed at least first and second in each of the last four events to defeat Columbia (2-5), 169-131, Saturday afternoon at Uris Natatorium in New York City.
The Mids outscored the Lions, 59-15, over the last four events to rally for the victory.
“We were very happy with today’s performance and how the team responded after Friday’s loss to Princeton,” said Navy head coach Bill Roberts. “Historically we have struggled at Columbia (the Mids had lost the last four meets in the series that were contested in New York). It says a lot about the team for them to bounce back from Friday’s meet and today’s deficit to earn the win.”
Navy put together a good start to the meet as it won each of the first four swimming events to take a 57-36 lead. After Columbia placed first and second in the three-meter diving event, the swimming events began with a Navy victory by three-tenths of a second in the 200 medley relay. Garrett McGovern (So., Nashville, Tenn.) followed with a time of 9:25.03 to win the 1000 freestyle by two seconds over teammate Everet Andrew (Fr., Wilmette, Ill.). Conor Cranfield (Fr., Fort Myers, Fla.) won the next event, the 200 freestyle, with a time of 1:40.09. Columbia’s Kyle Won finished second by 1.17 seconds in the 200 free, but Navy swimmers claimed both third and fourth place to make it a 14-5 advantage for the Mids in the event. The run of success by the Mids ended with Caleb Mauldin (Sr., Chesapeake, Va.) winning the 100 backstroke by seven-tenths of a second with a time of 49.95.
The next Navy victory also was recorded by Mauldin when he won the 100 freestyle in a time of 45.71 to start the second half of the meet. That was the lone win for the Mids during a nine-event stretch, but he keyed a 1-2-3 Navy finish in the event. The Lions followed with a 1-2-3 effort in the 200 backstroke, then Columbia placed first and fourth in the 200 breaststroke to take a 116-110 advantage.
Back came Navy with a 1-2-3 finish in the 500 freestyle, with the three Mids touching the wall within a span of 61-hundredths of a second. Cranfield won the race, 4:33.36, McGovern placed second, 4:33.95, then Andrew finished with the bronze medal, 4:33.97. The 100 fly followed and it saw Pat Colwell (So., New Canaan, Conn.) win in a time of 48.93 and teammate Jonah Harm (So., Placerville, Calif.) finish second in a clocking of 49.08.
The final individual event of the meet was the 200 individual medley. Navy’s Jackson Schultz (Jr., Millersville, Md.) posted a time of 1:51.00 to win the race by one-quarter of a second over teammate Ethan Tack (Sr., Dix Hills, N.Y.). Along with a fourth-place finish in the event by Richie Trentalange (So., Leonardo, N.J.), the Mids surpassed the 151-point mark to secure the victory. Navy would close the meet by placing first and second in the 400 freestyle relay.
Navy will close its regular season on Jan. 29 when the Mids play host to the Navy Invitational.
Courtesy: Columbia Athletics
NEW YORK — Junior Jonathan Suckow and first-year Demirkan Demir picked up two wins a piece as Columbia fell to Navy 131-169, in Morningside Heights. Suckow extended his undefeated streak yet another meet after collecting the highest marks off both the one and three meter springboards. Classmate Casey Fellows took second in the three meter with a season-best score of 310.13 while fellow Lion, Nick Leavell, followed Suckow in the one meter (309.23).
“This was a great day for all the divers,” noted Head Dive Coach Scott Donnie. “A season-best performance for Casey on three meter as he continues to close in on an NCAA Zone Qualifying score. We are excited to get back to work as we prepare for Cornell next week.”
Demir continued to dominate in the breaststroke, winning both the 100 and 200 yard events. The rookie was victorious in the 100 with a score of 56.35, fractions of a second ahead of Navy’s Jackson Schultz in second (56.45). In the 200, Demir recorded a time of 2:02.28 ahead of Navy’s James Lee (2:02.82) in second and Schultz in third (2:03.01).
Columbia’s rookies proved the Lions will be in good hands for years to come as Kyle Won, Joshua Cho, and Tristan Pragnell went swept the 200 back. Won claimed in the event in 1:49.10 follow by Cho (1:51.27) and Pragnell (1:51.79). In the 100 back, Columbia came in second (Andy Huang, 50.66), third (Cho, 51.15), and fourth (Hayden Liu, 51.17).
“Both Army and Navy are good teams, we knew we had to be close to perfect for a chance at beating them,” reflected Head Coach Jim Bolster of the Patriot League weekend. “From a physiological standpoint we’re fitter now than in November, but unfortunately there are kids who were swimming faster in November than now. We’re seeing the importance of rest. Nevertheless it’s frustrating, we want to win, but we have some weaknesses. Every team has exploited that, especially in the freestyle events. The importance of recruiting will be evident in the off-season to fill these gaps. All in all it’s really hard going into a meet knowing you will need to be almost perfect and it’s so rare that anyone is perfect, but the guys put forth a good effort.”
Senior Jonas Kistorp was victorious in the 50 free, earning nine points for the Lions in 20.73. Classmate Albert Gwo followed close behind in 20.77.
Columbia will return to Uris Natatorium next Saturday, January 29, to host Ivy League rival Cornell.
