2025 Navy Fall Invitational
- November 20-22, 2025
- Lejune Hall, Annapolis, MD
- SCY (25 yards)
- Teams: Navy, George Washington (men), James Madison, NC State (women), Old Dominion, Rutgers, UC Santa Barbara, Villanova
- “2025 Navy Fall Invitational” on Meet Mobile
Action got underway on Thursday in Annapolis at the 2025 Navy Fall Invitational. The Navy men and the UC Santa Barbara women will enter day two with the lead on the field.
In the opening race of the evening, UCSB struck first, winning the women’s 200 free relay. Miranda Stevenson closed in 22.58 to give UCSB the first win of the night, finishing less than half a second ahead of Villanova in 1:32.21. James Madison’s women were right on their tail, coming in 3rd at 1:32.21.
On the men’s side, it was Navy picking up the win in home water. Notching the lone sub-1:20 time of the evening, led by a trio of sub-19.7 splits from Gavin Green (19.29), Lachlan Andrew (19.69), and Ben Denman-Grimm (19.26). Navy’s ‘B’ relay and UCSB’s ‘A’ relay tied for the runner-up spot in 1:20.14.
The women’s 500 free top three finishers were decided by 15 hundredths of a second. Peri Gaguzis (4:51.85) of Villanova, her teammate Katie White (4:51.92), and JMU’s Madison Wimmer (4:52.00) all touched within fingertips of one another. That swim marked a lifetime best swim for Wimmer, besting her previous top time from last season’s Sun Belt Conference Championships in 4:54.58.
It was a two-man race between Navy’s Dean Jones and UCSB’s Owen Berry for the men’s 500 free crown. It came down to Jones’ ability to way outsplit Berry on the final 100 (50.18 to 53.72) to snatch the win in a career best 4:21.74, just three tenths faster than Berry in 4:22.04.
Samantha Banos (UCSB) produced the lone sub-2:00 swim in the women’s 200 IM, logging her second-ever time under two minutes (she was 1:59.80 in prelims). Her time of 1:59.76 now stands as her career-best. No other swimmer in the field touched below 2:01.
Coleman Yates (Navy) plowed his way to a 200 IM win by just over a second over Jack Nugent of UCSB in 1:48.83, with his final time of 1:47.76. Yates has been considerably faster, with his best time from the ECAC Championships last season at 1:46.10. That swim for Nugent was also just a hair slower than his all-time best of 1:48.78 from the Big West Championships last spring.
Two women dipped under the 23-second threshold in the 50 free; Jamie Cornwell of James Madison touched first in 22.74, followed by Miranda Stevenson of UCSB (22.96). Both swims marked the fastest they have been this season. 3rd-5th place were separated by only a tenth of a second.
Old Dominion’s Zach Redding flew to the only sub-20 50 free in the standalone event. Redding touched just off of his best time from the ASUN Championships last season in 19.65. The next closest finisher was Navy’s Ben Denman-Grimm in 20.00.
On the 3-meter board for the women, Rutgers finished 1-2-3-4, headlined by Sephora Ford’s 316.60 winning score, followed by Katerina Hoffman (307.50), Madeline Varnum (294.05), and Amelia Scott (280.10).
On the men’s 1-meter, Nate Warson was untouchable for Villanova, scoring the only score above 285 in 309.75. Navy’s Anthony Sciulli followed in 284.50, before George Washington slotted in from 3rd through 5th with Holden Wheeler (280.15), Ben Bradley (270.60), and Michael Wood (269.30).
UC Santa Barbara took home the final women’s swimming event of the day in the 400 medley relay; the quartet of Hazel Derr (54.30), Ashley Ray (1:00.44), Samantha Banos (53.22), and Eugenie Lanilis (49.57) combined for 3:37.53 to send UCSB into day two with the points lead.
Navy closed out the night with a go-home win on night one. Ben Irwin (47.35), Michael Phillips (53.30), Lachlan Andrew (46.92), and Ben Denman-Grimm (42.43) topped the 400 medley relay in 3:10.00, over a second faster than their ‘B’ relay that finished 2nd.
Standings After Day 1:
Women:
- UC Santa Barbara- 802.5
- Villanova- 767.5
- Navy- 580
- James Madison- 497
- Old Dominion- 288
- Rutgers- 137
- NC State- 58
Men:
- Navy- 1198
- UC Santa Barbara- 643
- Villanova- 521
- Old Dominion- 411
- George Washington- 125
