WVU Invite
- November 20-22, 2024
- Morgantown, WV
- 25 Yards (SCY)
- Participating Teams: WVU, Navy, James Madison, Old Dominion, Villanova, William & Mary, Clarion, Duquesne
- Day 1 Full Results
Men’s Recap
The Navy men are in full control after the first day of the 2024 WVU Invite as their depth powered them to 761 points and a 283-point lead over the hosting Mountaineers. The Midshipmen won two swimming events on the opening day—the 500 freestyle and the 400 medley relay—but even in events where they didn’t win, they were still a significant factor in the final. For example, they went 2-3 in the 200 IM and had five swimmers in the 50 freestyle ‘A’ final.
Everet Andrew won Navy’s individual event on the day, touching first in the 500 freestyle with a 4:24.49. The men’s 500 freestyle was the peak of the Midshipmen’s dominance on the day as Andrew, Dean Jones (4:25.57), Luca Oliva (4:27.53), and Zach Stump (4:28.99) earned the top four spots in the event.
Their other win came in the 400 medley relay, as Ben Irwin (47.10), Juan Mora (52.76), Lachlan Andrew (48.09), and E. Andrew (43.62) combined for a 3:11.57, moving to the top of the Division I mid-major rankings for the season.
West Virginia kicked off their invite by winning the 200 freestyle relay. Braden Osborn (20.68), Danny Berlitz (19.79), Roanoke Shirk (19.68), and Conner McBeth (19.17) swam a 1:19.32, securing the victory ahead of a 2-3 Navy finish. Navy’s ‘A’ relay finished nearly six-tenths behind in 1:19.90.
Berlitz was back up in the 200 IM, where he crushed the field with a 1:45.90. It’s a season-best for Berlitz, who owns a lifetime best of 1:43.94 from the 2024 Big 12 Championships. Behind him, teammates Mora and Coleman Yates were involved in a tight race for second, which Mora won by two-tenths, 1:47.50 to 1:47.70.
The men’s 50 freestyle featured the closest race of the session as Aiden Bond and Conner McBeth tied for the win in 19.93. Both neared their lifetime bests with the swim, and they were the only ones in the field to break 20 seconds.
Women’s Meet
The William & Mary women don’t have quite as commanding a lead as the Navy men, but they’ve still built a 47.5 point lead over Villanova through the first day of competition. They won both relays and two individual events, which helped them pace the field.
William & Mary and West Virginia’s ‘A’ relays were tied at the final exchange of the women’s 200 freestyle relay. But Flynn Truskett pulled out the win for W&M with a 22.62 anchor. The winning quartet of Caroline Burgeson (23.27), Sarah Dunham (23.29), Zoe Arakelian (23.29), and Truskett swam 1:32.47, beating WVU’s 1:32.85.
Truskett followed up her relay win by taking gold in the women’s 50 freestyle. She swam a lifetime best of 23.00 to touch six-hundredths ahead of Villanova’s Carlota Coloner Guasch (23.06). Truskett hacked a tenth off her previous lifetime best, which she set at the 2024 CAA Championships.
On the women’s side, the closest race of the session was the 200 IM, where the top three swimmers were separated by just .04 seconds. William & Mary’s Ellie Scherer held on for the win in 2:01.52. She had the slowest free split (29.08) between her, Anna Farley (27.63), and teammate Tess Lankford (28.41) but had enough left to get her hand on the wall two-hundredths ahead of Farley and four-hundredths ahead of Lankford.
Farley’s time is slightly off the lifetime best of 2:01.33 she swam in prelims, but is still well under her pre-invite best of 2:03.05. Lankord’s time is a new lifetime best for the freshman as she dips under 2:02 for the first time.
Julia Addison (54.93), Ellie Scherer (1:01.47), Lindsay Juhlin (53.76), and Burgeson (49.28) fired off a 3:39.44 to end the evening with a win in the 400 medley relay. They were the only team to crack the 3:40 mark, as Navy’s ‘A’ squad clocked 3:41.98 for second.
Maddie Smutny earned the Mountaineers’ only win on the women’s side in the 500 freestyle. She swam a lifetime best of 4:51.02 to win, bettering her previous best of 4:52.18. She won the race by almost two seconds ahead of W&M’s Lauren Tucker, who took 1.04 seconds off her lifetime best with a 4:53.01.
Team Scores Thru Day 1
Men
- Navy — 761
- West Virginia — 478
- Old Dominion — 287
- Villanova — 270
- William & Mary — 266
Women
- William & Mary — 543.5
- Villanova — 496
- Navy — 440.5
- West Virginia — 417
- Old Dominion — 165
