U.S. Naval Academy Sweep ECAC Team Titles

2017 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships

• March 3-5
• Hosted by U.S. Naval Academy
• Annapolis, Maryland
• 25 yards
• Full Meet Results
• Complete Team Scores

The United States Naval Academy men and women both came away with Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship titles on Sunday, upon conclusion of the three-day meet held at their home pool in Annapolis, Maryland.

The men won their fifth consecutive title, compiling 532 points to defeat runners-up Rider (378) and third place Maryland-Baltimore County (358). The women put up a staggering 632.5 points to crush the field, with Bucknell placing second (452) and Pennsylvania (434) third.

The Naval men won due to some extreme depth, as they only won one relay and had one individual swimmer claim a title. Hayes McCullagh was that guy, winning both the 200 IM (1:47.15) and 100 fly (47.48), and coming second in the 200 fly. He joined teammate Chipper Machemehl, Eric Collins and Andy McGregor to win the 400 medley relay in a time of 3:17.91.

The women also only had one individual winner, with McKenna Resconich winning the 400 IM in 4:22.59, leading a 1-2-3 sweep for Naval. They also came away with wins in the 400 medley and 800 free relays, and had a pair of runner-up finishes from distance ace Erin Jordan in the 500 and 1650 free events.

Earning NCAA events with their swims were Jack Saunderson of Towson and Ben Cono of Loyola, who came away with victories in the 200 fly and 100 breast respectively. Saunderson put up a time of 1:43.05 in the 200 fly, well under the NCAA ‘B’ standard of 1:47.99 and has earned an invite to NCAAs, under the cut-off time of 1:43.09. Cono put up a 52.85 to win the 100 breast, and went even lower in a time trial swim in 52.50. That qualifies him for NCAAs, getting under the 52.62 cutoff. Saunderson will also swim the 100 fly, and Cono the 200 breast in Indy.

Among the most impressive at the meet was Alexander Gliese of UMBC, who threw down two NCAA ‘B’ standards in the 100 and 200 back to win in times of 48.16 and 1:44.73 respectively. We also saw Rider’s Zachary Molloy unload a pair of ‘B’ standards and meet records in the 100 (43.53) and 200 free (1:34.75). He also led off the victorious 400 free relay for Rider.

Jason Quinn of Virginia also had a particularly impressive 1650, winning in 15:20.97. That time would’ve placed him 14th at ACCs and was under the ‘B’ standard by nearly ten seconds.

On the women’s side Dina Rommel of Virginia swept her three events, winning the 100 free, 50 free and 100 fly, putting up ‘B’ standards in the latter two. Also performing well for the Virginia women was Mary Pelton, winning both the 200 free and 200 IM.

Team Scores

Men

1. U.S. Naval Academy, 532
2. Rider University, 378
3. UMBC Swimming & Diving, 358
4. State University of Binghamton, 311
5. University of Virginia, 299

Women

1. U.S. Naval Academy, 632.5
2. Bucknell University, 452
3. University of Pennsylvania, 434
4. University of Virginia, 348.5
5. Colombia University, 346

See full scores here.