Courtesy: Towson Athletics
BALTIMORE — Coming down to the final events of the day, the Towson University men’s swimming and diving program used clutch finishes to edge Loyola University Maryland 157-143 Saturday afternoon at Mangione Pool at The Fitness and Aquatics Center.
The Tigers took first and third in the final event of the day, the 200-yard freestyle relay, to seal the Tigers’ fifth-straight win over the Greyhounds. Ryan Baldino, Lyke Schwar, Brian Benzing and Michael Fazio combined to finish in 1 minute, 22.50 seconds, including a 20-second final leg from Fazio.
TJ Bearor, Trey Adkins, Evan Bota and Cody Stewaty took third-place points with a finishing time of 1:25.14 in the 200-yard freestyle, limiting Loyola’s points and chance for a comeback.
How it Happened
- Another relay team, the 200-yard medley squad of Fazio, Benzing, Nick McClure and Ryan Baldino, won the opening event with a 1:31.22, edging Loyola’s A team by two tenths of a second.
- Patrick Flint took second in the 1000-yard freestyle with a 9:56.57, followed by teammate Drew Munson in 9:59.24.
- In the following event, Ryan Baldino touched in 1:40.39 in the 200-yard freestyle for the win before Bota took second in the 100-yard backstroke (51.69).
- Rookie Brian Benzing won the 100-yard breaststroke with a 54.93, the second-fastest time in that event in program history, just shy of his own mark of 54.81, set last weekend at Navy.
- McClure and Reed Sells went 1-2 in the 200-yard butterfly, with the former winning in 1:53.40 and the later in a time of 1:55.46. Fazio grabbed a second-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle (20.98) before the first intermission.
- On the 1-meter board, Towson took first and second as Ajani Dorner won with the program’s third-best score of 287.40 while teammate Will Canny had the program’s fourth-best score of 265.27, good enough for second place.
- After the break, Fazio returned to capture the 100-yard freestyle in 45.17, the ninth fastest in program history, followed by a second-place finish from Baldino (45.35).
- McClure won his second event of the day, taking the 100-yard butterfly by over a second, touching in 51.04, ahead of Loyola’s Conor Rutigliano (52.02).
- Sells and Flint grabbed points with second and third place, respectively, in the 200-yard backstroke. Sells touched in 1:52.99 while Flint finished in 1:53.63. Noah Diacumakos finished second in the 200-yard breaststroke with a 2:05.98, half a second off first place.
- Coming in clutch down the stretch, Benzing and Flint finished second and third in the 200-yard IM, going 1:53.35 and 1:55.07, respectively, to stave off a Loyola surge.
- Canny won the 3-meter dive with a 293.70, third-best in Towson history, while Dorner’s 232.05 was the ninth-best in the event, and good for a third-place finish.
Head Coach Jake Shrum
- Our guys did a great job fighting for every scoring spot throughout the meet, resulting in the competition come down to who won the last relay.
- To have a pretty young relay come through to touch first in that situation was awesome and says a lot about their maturity.
Up Next for Towson
- The Tigers return home for their lone event at Burdick Pool on Saturday, Feb. 27.
- A time has not yet been set for the meet against Mount St. Mary’s and will be announced soon.
BALTIMORE – In its second meet in as many weeks, the Towson University women’s swimming and diving team turned in a 180-120 win over nearby Loyola Saturday afternoon at Mangione Pool at the Fitness & Aquatics Center.
The Tigers (1-1) utilized two top-three sweeps en route to the program’s 14th-straight win over the Greyhounds since the 2002-03 campaign. All told, the Towson women won 10 events.
How it Happened
- Karlee Carminati posted a 5 minute, 13.43 second win in the 500-yard freestyle, followed by a second-place finish from Suzannah Mills (5:16.66) and third from Liz Jones (5:17.83). The first Greyhound to finish was Elena Mugno in 5:24.01.
- In the very next event, Hailey Ritter dropped a 56.95 in the 100-fly to take first, followed by fellow sophomore Andrea Ducar (58.02) and rookie Samantha Casolo (58.38) for the sweep.
- Leading off the day, Towson picked up second and third in the 200 medley relay, with the A relay of Ritter, Tiffany Matulis, Ducar and Maddie Mince going in 1:46.78. The quartet of Elise Devlin, Meagan Clark, Jones and Parker Schulz touched third in 1:48.89.
- Carminati later took first in the 1000 freestyle, touching 17 seconds ahead of the next-fastest swimmer, winning the event in 10:41.17. Gabrielle Cervone took third in 11:00.13.
- In the backstroke. Devlin won both distances, taking the 100-yard in 58.44 and the 200 in 2:05.38. Alex Diacumakos finished third in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:07.99.
- The duo of Kasey Gemache and Matulis took second and third in the 100-yard breaststroke, touching in 1:06.89 and 1:07.82, respectively.
- Ritter won the 50-yard freestyle by a tenth of a second, finishing in 24.23 ahead of Loyola’s Megan Dickey (24.31) and teammate Maddie Mince (24.67).
- The Tigers went 1-2 in the 3-meter dive with Tina Coleman taking first with a score of 259.87 followed by Sarah DiGaetano in 244.27. The pair also went 1-2 in the 1-meter dive with a 262.49 and a 229.49. Coleman’s 1-meter score ranks 8th all-time in program history.
- Schulz won the 100-yard freestyle with a 53.21, half a second ahead of a third-place finish from Mince (53.77).
- The women’s side capped the day with a victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay as Schulz, Ritter, Clark and Mince completed their swim in 1:37.76.
Head Coach Jake Shrum
- We had a much more complete meet today, and a number of sophomores and freshmen were able to take some things that we saw at Navy (last weekend) and improve on them today, which was great to see.
- We were in a tight meet after the first break and Parker Schulz and Elise Devlin winning the 100-free and 100-back helped us get a lot of momentum that we were able to carry the rest of the meet. Tina Colemant also continues to be a rock for us in the diving events.
Up Next for Towson
- The Tigers host their one and only meet of the truncated 2021 season on February 27 at Burdick Pool.
- Towson takes on a third-straight in-state foe, Mount St. Mary’s. A start time will be announced this week.
Courtesy: Loyola Athletics
BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs won seven events apiece in their long-awaited return to Mangione Pool, as the Greyhounds competed against Towson in their season opener on Saturday.
Emma Schouten and Lily Mead each contributed to three victories on the women’s side, while Max Verheyen won a pair of individual events for the men. Towson’s men edged out a 157-143 dual victory, and the Towson women prevailed 180-120.
Mead posted individual wins in the 200-yard freestyle (1:54.22) and 200 individual medley (2:07.70) in her Loyola debut, and she teamed with Schouten, Elizabeth Walsh and Megan Dickey for a first-place showing in the 200 medley relay (1:46.22) to begin the afternoon.
Schouten swept the breaststroke events, as the three-time All-Patriot League performer took first in both the 100 breast (1:05.51) and 200 breast (2:22.57). Another freshman accounted for the final event win for the women, as Alana Andress topped the field with a time of 2:07.39 in the 200 butterfly.
Loyola went 1-2 in the women’s 200 IM, as Walsh followed Mead to the line with a mark of 2:10.64. Dickey added second-place showings in both sprint free events (24.31 in the 50 free, 53.27 in the 100 free). Other individual runner-up performances included Walsh in the 100 backstroke (58.98), Mead in the 200 back (2:06.02) and Kylie Preihs in the 1000 free (10:58.98).
The women’s 200 free relay of Andress, Stella Meyerhoeffer, Claire Bowser and Dickey concluded the meet with a second-place time of 1:39.11. Jess Stolfi was the top women’s diver, placing third in both the 1-meter (208.20 points) and 3-meter (218.63) competitions.
Verheyen, the men’s Rookie of the Meet at last year’s Patriot League championships, posted wins in the 200 breast (2:05.52) and 200 IM (1:50.85), and he was second in the 100 breast (57.68).
Five other Greyhound men added individual victories, including Dylan Champagne in the 1000 free (9:50.24), Jonathan Brooks in the 100 back (51.64), Caleb Kelly in the 50 free (20.84) and Mark Boran in the 200 back (1:52.72). Loyola also finished 1-2 in the 500 free, as Reid Hussey (4:40.50) beat out Champagne (4:43.09) for the top spot.
Other individual runner-ups were Hussey in the 200 free (1:41.62), Conor Rutigliano in the 100 fly (52.02) and Jack Still in the 3-meter dive (238.12 points). The 200 medley relay team of Brooks, Verheyen, Jimmy Hayburn and Kelly were second with a time of 1:31.43, while the foursome of Kelly, Hayburn, Brooks and Hussey concluded with meet with a runner-up showing in the 200 free relay (1:22.73).
Saturday’s meet was also Loyola’s debut on ESPN+, with all future home meets this season scheduled to be streamed on the online platform. More information regarding how to watch the Greyhounds on ESPN+ is available here.
Loyola returns to Mangione Pool next Saturday, hosting Mount St. Mary’s in a dual meet beginning at 1 p.m.
