Freshmen Shine as Virginia Sweeps Navy

Virginia v. Navy

  • Saturday, October 31st, 2020
  • Annapolis, MD
  • Dual meet format
  • SCY
  • Full Results
  • Scores
    • Women: Virginia 188, Navy 104
    • Men: Virginia 181, Navy 117

Women’s Recap

On the women’s side, the #1-ranked Cavaliers won 188-104, touching first in every swimming event, although several were exhibitioned.

Kate Douglass led Virginia with three individual event victories. She swept the sprint freestyles, winning the 50 free by more than a second in 22.43, then coming back to take the 100 free in 48.26, almost a three second margin of victory. She later won the 200 IM in 1:55.27, finishing almost five seconds ahead of everyone else, although Virginia exhibitioned the event. Those times move her up to #1 in the nation in the still-young season in the 100 free and the 200 IM, and #3 in the 50 free.

Douglass turned her heads last season with her versatility, and freshman Alex Walsh demonstrated her own range today. She led off Virginia’s 200 medley relay in 24.54, the fastest time in the field by almost a second, then went to win the fairly unusual event combo of the 100 back (52.77) and 200 breast (2:12.14). That 52.77 moves her to #2 in the nation so far this season, while the 200 2:12.14 moves her to #3 in the 200 breast.

Fellow freshman Abby Harter swept the butterflies with times of 54.04/1:58.19, good for #6 and #4, respectively in the nation this season.

Senior distance star Paige Madden also earned multiple victories for the Cavaliers. She opened up the individual events with a 9:45.43 in the 1000 free, winning by nearly 18 seconds and also putting up the top time in the nation. Madelyn Donohoe took the 500 in 4:55.96, leading a 1-3 Virginia sweep. Virginia also swept the top three spots in the 200 free, led by Ella Nelson‘s 1:48.37, which moves her into the top 5 this season, while Alexis Wenger took the 100 breast in 1:00.71, #4 in the nation this season.

Virginia bookended the meet with victories in the 200 medley relay (1:38.35) and the 400 free relay (3:25.15).

Diver Hannah Montau earned the Navy women both of their event wins on the day, as she took the 1m event in 270.68 and the 3m in 309.90.

Sydney Harrington had a pair of strong performances in the pool, nearly clipping Harter in the 100 fly (54.14) and in the 200 fly (1:58.74).

Men’s Recap

Navy put up more of a fight on the men’s side, taking a total of six events, but the UVA men still won by a score of 181-117.

Freshman Matt Brownstead swept the sprint freestyles, going 20.12/44.24. Brownstead, our #6 ranked recruit in the high school class of 2020, comes into UVA with a personal best time in the 50 free (19.24) faster than UVA’s team record (19.42). Junior Justin Grender added a pair of victories as he swept the backstrokes in 48.38/1:46.02.

UVA also got individual victories from Keefer Barnum in the 100 breast (54.68), Matt Otto in the 200 breast (2:00.54), Konnar Klinksiek in the 100 fly (48.06) and Sean Conway in the 200 IM (1:49.22). Virginia swimmers swept the top three spots in each of those last three events.

The Cavaliers had opened up the day with a 1:28.37 victory in the medley relay, then wrapped up the meet by trotting out two squads in the 400 free relay, one consisting of only sophomores and the other consisting of only freshmen. Sophomore Jack Wright had the fastest split in the field with a 43.54 anchor leg, but it wasn’t enough to take down the freshman squad, who won 2:59.27 to 2:59.40.

After losing the medley relay to open the meet, Navy got rolling by winning the first two individual events. Luke Johnson, the Patriot League record holder in the 1650, won the 1000 free in 9:14.23, followed by Ryan Waters‘s 1:38.39 victory in the 200 free. Waters returned later to take the 500 free in 4:29.71. Micah Oh also earned a win for Navy, going out fast in the 200 fly and holding on to win by 0.06s over UVA’s Josh Fong, 1:48.27 to 1:48.33.

Navy Release

ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– Navy divers swept all four boards in the season-opening meet by the Navy swimming and diving teams against Virginia, Saturday afternoon at Lejeune Hall in Annapolis.  The Cavaliers, whose women’s team is ranked first nationally and men’s team is ranked 13th in the country, defeated the Mids in both meets.  The score of the women’s meet was 188-104 and the tally in the men’s decision was 181-117.

Hannah Montau (Jr., Germantown, Md.) scored 270.68 points to edge Virginia’s Jocelyn Porter by 2.25 points in the one-meter competition.  Montau would also accrue 309.90 points to win the three-meter board by 32.07 points over Virginia’s Charlotte Bowen.

In the men’s competition, Patrick Carter (Sr., West Islip, N.Y.) posted 279.23 points to claim first place in the one-meter event.  He topped second-place finisher Oliver Mills by 10.73 points.  Additionally, Jake Hedrick (Sr., Hummelstown, Pa.) tallied 328.65 points to defeat Mills on the three-meter board by 37.35 points.

“It was great to be back on the boards in a meet again,” said Navy diving coach Rich MacDonald.  “We’re definitely a bit rusty, but I was proud of how they competed.  To win all four boards against a team of Virginia’s talent is a testament to how hard our divers have been working.”

Ryan Waters (Sr., Basking Ridge, N.J.) won two swimming events for the Mids on the day.  He first earned the victory in the 200 freestyle by 46-hundredths of a second with a clocking of 1:38.39, then won the 500 free by 88-hundredths of a second thanks to his time of 4:29.71.

Rounding out the list of Navy event winners were Luke Johnson (Sr., Charlotte, N.C.) in the 1000 freestyle and Micah Oh(Sr., Kent, Wash.) in the 200 butterfly.  Johnson touched the wall in a time of 9:14.23 to win the race by over eight seconds and Oh recorded an effort of 1:48.27 to win by six-hundredths of a second.

Posting second-place finishes for the Navy men’s team were Caleb Mauldin (Jr., Chesapeake, Va.) in the 100 backstroke (48.83), Dean Nguyen (Sr., Seattle, Wash.) in the 100 breaststroke (55.68) and Jake Evert (Fr., Bethlehem, Pa.) in the 100 freestyle (45.04).

“Overall,” said Navy men’s swimming head coach Bill Roberts, “I was very pleased with how we performed.  We knew Virginia was coming in with a really good team.  Our guys were adequately prepared for the challenge.  There were a few events we thought would go our way.  When they didn’t, it allowed Virginia to pull away from us.

“Ryan has been doing a terrific job, not only this season but throughout his career.  We were not surprised by the success he had today, and that is due to his approach.  It also was a very good day for our divers.”

Silver medalists on the day for the Navy women were Sydney Harrington (Jr., Fairfax, Va.) in the 200 fly (1:58.74) and 100 fly (54.14) and Madison Milbert (Jr., Kingston, Mass.) in the 200 back (2:01.07).  Abby Harter edged Harrington for the two wins by 55-hundredths of a second in the 200 fly and by one-tenth of a second in the 100 fly.

“This was a great way to start our season,” said Navy women’s swimming head coach John Morrison.  “Our thanks to Virginia for making the day trip here.

“It has been a long time since we stepped up to race another team.  While the event placings don’t show it, we were extremely pleased with our overall team performances on the day.  Our team did not get complacent going up against the top-ranked team in the country.  And what a great result for our divers!  Hannah Montau was tremendous.”

Navy will resume its abbreviated fall slate of meets Nov. 14 when the Mids play host to Duke.

Virginia Release

Annapolis, Md. –  The No. 1 ranked Virginia women’s swimming and diving team and 13th ranked UVA men’s team swept Navy in a dual meet as the team opened the season on Saturday (Oct. 31) at Lejeune Hall.

The Cavaliers defeated Navy 188-104 in the women’s meet and 181-117 in the men’s meet.

Virginia set two pool records during the competition with the women’s 200-yard medley relay team swimming a time of 1:38.35 and sophomore Kate Douglass (Pelham, N.Y.) going 1:55.27 in the 100-yard freestyle. Additionally, the Cavaliers captured the top time in 24 of 32 total events against the Midshipmen.

Women’s Meet
The Cavaliers opened the meet by setting a Lejeune Hall facility record in the 200-yard medley relay. Freshman Alex Walsh (Detroit, Mich.), junior Alexis Wenger (Detroit, Mich.), sophomore Lexi Cuomo (Clifton, Va.) and Douglass swam a time of 1:38.35 to take the top time by over three seconds.

Douglass led the team with three individual wins going 22.43 in the 50-yard freestyle, 48.26 in the 100-yard freestyle and 1:55.27 in the 200-yard individual medley. Her time in the 100-yard freestyle topped the Lejeune Hall record.

Senior Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala.) added a pair of wins with the top time in the 1000-yard freestyle at 9:45.43 and the 200-yard backstroke at 1:57.69 as UVA first-years Walsh and Abby Harter (Broadlands, Va.) started their collegiate careers by topping two individual events. Walsh posted the top 100-yard backstroke swim with a time of 52.77 and the top 200-yard breaststroke swim with a time of 2:12.14. Harter swam a time of 54.04 in the 100-yard butterfly and a time of 1:58.19 in the 200-yard butterfly.

Sophomore Ella Nelson (Nashville, Tenn.) swam a time of 1:48.37 in the 200-yard freestyle to win the event by nearly two seconds. Wenger won the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:00.71 and Maddie Donohoe (Annandale, Va.) won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:55.96.

The Cavaliers concluded the women’s meet with 400-yard freestyle relay team of Wenger, Madden, senior Caroline Gmelich (Rumson, N.J.) and sophomore Ella Collins (Austin, Texas) going 3:25.15.

Men’s Meet
Junior Justin Grender (Cincinnati, Ohio), senior Keefer Barnum (Louisville, Ky.), sophomore Max Edwards (Winston-Salem, N.C.) and August Lamb (Charlottesville, Va.) posted a time of 1:28.37 to win the 200-yard medley relay.

Grender added wins in the 100 and 200-yard backstroke to his day, swimming a time of 48.38 and 1:46.02, respectively.

In his first collegiate meet, freshman Matt Brownstead (Port Matilda, Penn.) swam a time of 20.12 in the 50-yard freestyle and a time of 44.24 in the 100-yard freestyle to win both events for the Cavaliers.

Virginia saw wins from four additional Cavaliers as Barnum went 54.68 in the 100-yard breaststroke, senior Matthew Otto went 2:00.54 in the 200-yard breaststroke, sophomore Konnar Klinksiek (San Antonio, Texas) went 48.06 in the 100-yard butterfly and sophomore Sean Conway (Round Hill, Va.) went 1:49.22 in the 200-yard individual medley.

The Cavaliers closed the night with the all-freshman relay team of Brownstead, Brian Brennan (Devon, Pa.), Jan Karolczak (Warszawa, Poland) and William Cole (Prospect, Ky.) recording a time of 2:59.27 for the win.

Quote from Todd DeSorbo
“It was great to be back competing after nine months since our last dual meet,” head coach Todd DeSorbo said. “The team has been working hard to get back into race form and today it was evident we are back. We were happy to have Navy host us and they are a well-coached tough team. Our men and women raced hard and learned a lot about where we are right now and where we need to go moving forward. We had quite a few highlights, quite a few freshmen winning their first ever college dual meet races. It was exciting to be racing again. The women were led by Kate Douglass’ three individual wins, really picking up where she left off last year and setting a pool record in the 100 free. We had several multi-event winners with Paige Madden continuing to thrive, first-year Alex Walsh’s debut and Abby Harter sweeping the flys. The divers are also a young group and are off to a great start this year after not having been in the boards for six months. This team is going to be hard to beat this year.

“The men are young but definitely stronger than last year. Leading the way was Justin Grender and first-year Matt Brownstead with double wins. It was a full team effort as we had six different men win events. It was good to see our first-years embrace the team environment and contribute at a high level as well as our upperclassmen leading the way. I’m looking forward to watching this team develop this season. They’ll be a force by season end.”

Next
Members of the Cavaliers men’s and women’s swimming teams will travel to Richmond, Va., for the three-day Toyota U.S. Open which begins on Nov. 12.

 

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SwimFani
3 years ago

UVA looking very sharp. They have it rolling.

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