Navy Women Win 31st Straight, Men 29th Straight, over Army (Swimming)

Navy vs. Army

• December 12th, 2019
• Lejeune Hall, Annapolis, Maryland
• SCY (25y) pool
• Meet Results
• Team Scores:
  • Navy Women 221 – Army Women 79
  • Navy Men 194 – Army Men 106

This weekend’s annual Army-Navy football game, played at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, resulted in a 31-7 Navy win. That snapped a 3-game Army winning streak in the series.

Two days before the big football game, there would be no win streaks snapped, however, as the Navy swimming & diving programs swept Army in resounding fashion in Annapolis. For the Navy women, who won 13 of 16 events at the meet, this made a 31st consecutive victory; for the Navy men, who won 11 out of 16 events, this marked a 29th-consecutive victory.

Highlighting the significance of this rivalry, even in sports like swimming where the results have been lopsided, the 1,000-seat Lejeune Hall was at standing room only capacity for the event. Olympic gold medalist and NBC’s lead swimming commentator Rowdy Gaines was on hand to broadcast the event.

For the Navy women, sophomore Martina Thomas, who was last season’s Patriot League Rookie of the Year, picked up wins in both the 200 free (1:45.29 – winning by almost 3 seconds) and the 100 free (49.29 – winning by almost a second).

In that 200 free, Thomas and teammate Erin Scudder (1:48.18) marked the two fastest Patriot League times of the season, while in the 100 free, Thomas, Brooke West (50.28), and Ali Kozlina (50.28) posted the three fastest Patriot League times of the season.

Thomas placed 2nd in her other individual swim of the day, the 500 free, in 4:53.38 – behind Scudder’s 4:51.68.

Navy senior Jamie Miller had a big day as well, including a new Navy and Lejeune Hall Record in the 100 yard backstroke. Her winning time of 54.02 undercut the old Navy record of 54.04 and the old Meet Record of 54.10. Miller added a win in the 200 backstroke later in the meet in 1:55.00, which also broke the Navy (1:55.14) and Meet (1:46.08) Records.

Army’s biggest stand of the meet came in the 100 breaststrokes, where the Black Knights swept the wins. The women’s race went to freshman Gillian Burch in 1:02.06, with her freshman teammate Mandolin Nguyen taking 2nd in 1:02.15.

A race later, Army’s Evan Zhang won the men’s event in 53.00, beating out Navy’s Dean Nguyen (53.36). That was Zhang’s best time by 8-tenths of a second and broke the Army West Point school record.

Zhang would later win the 200 breaststroke in 1:55.39, another Army West Point record, and swam as part of a 1:27.19 in the 200 yard medley relay, which is also a school record.

Miller’s record-setting swims were 2 of 3 Naval Academy records to be broken at the meet. In the men’s 1000 free, Luke Johnson swam an 8:58.96, which broke the old Navy Record of 8:59.52. That time ranks Johnson 7th in the country so far this season, though all 6 times ahead of him were set as a split time en route to a 1650 free swim.

Press Releases

Courtesy: U.S. Naval Academy Athletics

ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– A standing-room only crowd once again packed Lejeune Hall to watch the annual Army-Navy swimming and diving meet Thursday evening, and the home teams did not disappoint the majority of those in attendance as the Mids swept the Black Knights by scores of 221-79 in the women’s meet and 194-106 in the men’s meet.

The event was part of the Star Series, presented by USAA.

The Navy women’s team won 13 of the 16 contested events and placed first, second and third in eight of the 12 individual events to win the meet for a 31^st-straight season.  The Navy men’s squad won 11 events and placed first, second and third in five races to notch its 29^th victory in a row in the series.

“We are very proud of the entire team effort today,” said Navy women’s swimming head coach John Morrison.  “The two Navy teams fed off of the success of the other, and each were inspired by the outstanding home crowd.”

“I first want to thank everybody who supports the program to make this meet possible,” said Navy men’s swimming head coach Bill Roberts.  “That starts with everyone in the stands. It was an amazing turnout for this event and I cannot put into words what this means to our programs.  And to the support we received on the pool deck from all of those who helped behind the scenes, thanks for helping make this a memorable experience for the Midshipmen.”

The meet could not have started any better for Navy as the Mids swept the opening 200 medley relay races.  The women’s team, in fact, placed both first (1:40.15) and second (1:40.75) while the men’s relays finished in both first (1:27.00) and third (1:29.65) places.

“We challenged the team to take advantage of the home pool and jump out to great swims in the opening relay,” said Morrison.  “They really set the tone for the entire meet.”

Army’s Kristen Gullickson posted a four-second victory (10:08.46) in the first individual event of the night, the 1000 freestyle.  However, the men’s 1000 free started a string of five-straight races in which Navy swimmers earned the top-three placings.  Ryan Waters (Jr., Basking Ridge, N.J.) touched the wall in a time of 8:58.96 to win the race by two seconds over teammate Luke Johnson (Jr., Charlotte, N.C.) and also break the Navy (8:59.52) and meet (8:59.81) record in the event.

Martina Thomas (So., Fayetteville, Ark.) posted a time of 1:45.29 to win the women’s 200 free by almost three seconds, then Daniel Cook (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.) won the men’s 200 free by eight-tenths of a second with his meet-record (1:36.00) effort of 1:35.70.

Jamie Miller (Sr., Rochester Hills, Mich.) followed with a winning time of 54.02 in the women’s 100 backstroke.  That bettered both the Navy (54.04) and meet (54.10) records.  Closing the run of Navy wins was Caleb Mauldin (So., Chesapeake, Va.) as he won the men’s 100 back with a time of 47.15.

Army swimmers swept the wins in the 100 breaststroke, then Sydney Harrington (So., Fairfax, Va.) took to the blocks in the women’s 200 fly.  She would tally a time of 1:54.47 to win the race by 3.6 seconds and, in the process, lower her own Navy and league record (1:56.53), better the meet record (1:57.06) and break the pool record of 1:54.53 set by Olympian Katie Hoff in 2007.

The Navy women claimed the top three placings in the 200 fly, then the Navy men took first and second in the men’s race with Micah Oh (Jr., Kent, Ohio) posting a time of 1:44.65 to edge teammate Ethan Tack’s (So., Dix Hills, N.Y.) second-place time of 1:45.04.

The last swimming event of the first half of the meet was the 50 freestyle.  Sarah Sorensen (So., Gainesville, Fla.) led a 1-2-3 finish for the Navy women, with the Navy men finishing in second and third place.

The opening diving events of the meet saw Navy athletes claim the top three placings in both the women’s three-meter event and the men’s one-meter board.  Meghan Gerdes (Jr., Spring, Texas) won the women’s event with her score of 312.00 and Bradley Buchter (Sr., Hickory, N.C.) won the men’s competition with an overall tally of 376.43.

The second half of the meet began where it left off for the Navy women as the Mids took first, second and third in the 100 freestyle.  Thomas won her second event of the night with her clocking of 49.29.  Cook became the first Navy men’s swimmer to win a second individual event as he posted a 44.48 to win the men’s 100 free.

Navy women’s swimmers kept their run of 1-2-3 finishes going as they did so in the 200 backstroke with Miller claiming the victory.  Her time of 1:55.00 was a new school (1:55.14) and meet (1:56.08) record.  Dominick Wallace (Jr., La Jolla, Calif.) made it a combined four-straight wins for the Mids as he claimed the victory in the men’s 200 back (1:44.09).

Army won each 200 breaststroke event, then Erin Scudder (Sr., Western Springs, Ill.) and Waters earned the victories in the 500 freestyle races.  Scudder posted a time of 4:51.68 in a 1-2-4 Navy finish, with Waters recording a 4:25.05 to lead a 1-2-3 Navy showing.

Harrington kept her great night going as she won the 100 fly with a time of 52.12.  That effort, which was part of a 1-2-3 Navy finish, broke her own school and league (53.07) record and set a new meet record (53.66).  She would also win the next women’s event, the 200 individual medley, with a time of 2:01.31.

“Sydney and Martina were outstanding today,” said Morrison.  “They provided sparks at opportune times.”

Army would win the men’s 100 fly and 200 IM to close out the individual swimming portion of the meet.

The second and last diving events saw Hannah Montau (So., Germantown, Md.) record 280.88 points to win the women’s one-meter event by 26 points and Buchter accrue 390.30 points to win the men’s three-meter board by nearly 65 points.

“I am very pleased and excited with how our divers performed this evening,” said Navy diving coach Rich MacDonald.  “The environment at this meet is electric, and sometimes that makes it difficult to stay focused and reign in your nerves.  Army has some good divers, so I was happy when our divers responded so confidently.”

Closing out the meet was the 400 freestyle relay events.  The Navy women’s team posted a time of 3:20.56 to win its race, with the Navy men’s team completing the event in a time of 2:56.36 to also win the race.

“So much credit goes to the athletes for their having the performances they did today,” said Roberts.  “I cannot say enough about their commitment and loyalty to each other.  It is an honor and privilege to watch each of them train, prepare, fight and compete.”

Navy will try for 2020 Olympic Trial cut times Friday, then will resume its dual meet slate of meets in January.

Courtesy: Army West Point Athletics

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Army West Point men’s swimming and diving team dropped the annual Star Meet to Navy, 194-106, on Thursday night.

Army won five events opposite the Midshipmen. Sophomore Evan Zhang shined with a pair of first-place finishes in the 100 and 200 breasts, setting Academy records in both.

EVENT WINNERS:
100 Breast: Zhang – 53.00 (Academy Record)
50 Free: Josh Zock – 19.87
200 Breast: Zhang – 1:55.39 (Academy Record)
200 IM: Brian McKenrick – 1:47.28
400 Free Relay: Billy Webber, Sean Paul Stolarski, Graham Ungrady, Sean Dwyer – 3:00.99

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
200 Medley Relay: McKenrick, Zhang, Johnny Ellery, Zock – 1:27.19, Second (Academy Record)
200 Fly: James Bilbrey – 1:46.52, Third
100 Free: Tanner Falls – 44.97, Second
200 Back: Tyler Kim – 1:45.09, Third
1-Meter: Daniel Alaimo – 309.83, Fourth
3-Meter: Alaimo – 326.85, Second
400 Free Relay: Zock, Nathan Hein, Kevin Doo, Falls – 3:02.43, Third

UP NEXT
Several Cadets will compete tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. at the Navy Long Course Invitational in Annapolis, Md.