William & Mary at Davidson
- Jan. 19, 2019
- Men: William & Mary def. Davidson 187-83
- Women: William & Mary def. Davidson 181-81
- Results
Courtesy: William & Mary Athletics
The William & Mary women’s swimming team bounced back into the win column on Saturday, hitting the road to defeat Davidson, 181-81. The Tribe won 11 of the 14 swimming events and 20 of 28 top-two places to improve to 4-7 on the year, while the Wildcats fell to 3-6 overall.
Among the Tribe’s wins were a sweep of the two relays. At the start of the meet, the 200 medley relay team of Anna Kenna (Chantilly, Va.), Ellie Henry (Southern Pines, N.C.), Katie Sell (Fredericksburg, Va.), and Annie Miller (Houston, Texas) set the tone of the day with a win in 1:45.78. Sell also anchored the 400 free relay to victory to finish the day, teaming up with Megan Bull (Hillsborough, N.J.), Tara Tiernan (West Hartford, Conn.), and Maria Oceguera (New Rochelle, N.Y.) to stop the clock in 3:32 flat.
Oceguera and Henry each also won a pair of individual races in the meet. Henry swept the backstroke events, winning the 100 back in 58.33 seconds and touching the wall in 2:05.85 to take the 200 back. Oceguera, meanwhile, won the 200 free in 1:54.43 before coming back to claim victory in the 100 fly with a time of 56.74 seconds.
Also winning events on the day was the sophomore Bull, who won the 1,000 free in 10:23.40, as well as her classmate Tiernan, winning the 500 free in 5:06.49. Sophomore Diana Tramontano (Greenwich, Conn.) won her first collegiate race, swimming 1:06.96 to win the 100 breast. Freshman Missy Cundiff (Leesburg, Va.) won the 50 free in 23.91 seconds, and fellow rookie Inez Olszewski (New York, N.Y.) took the 100 free with a time of 54.06 seconds.
The William & Mary men’s swimming team got back in the win column in a big way Saturday, blasting Davidson 187-83 on the road. The Tribe accounted for 21 of 28 top-two finishes, including 13 of 14 event wins, while improving to 6-4 on the year, while the Wildcats fell to 2-5 overall. With the win, W&M locked up a winning season for the eighth year in a row, extending its program record in that category.
Leading the way for the Tribe was junior Chris Balbo (Short Hills, N.J.) who continued his breakout campaign with a 3-for-3 effort in his individual races. Starting things off was the 1,000 free, which he won in 9:24.94 to shatter the Davidson Pool record. That was also just a second off of his collegiate-best in the event, and the eighth-fastest race in school history. Next up was 200 breast, where he tied with senior Brooks Peterson (Carrollton, Va.) for the win in 2:08.95, before Balbo finished up with a win in the 400 IM at 4:00.35, leading a Tribe sweep of the top three places. Balbo’s three wins on the day gave him 20 on the year, already 14th-most ever in a single season with at least two meets (one dual, and the CAA Championships) still to come, and 45 in his career, moving into ninth all-alone in school history.
Peterson also recorded a pair of wins to sweep the breaststrokes, swimming 58.26 seconds in the 100 breast to go with his shared title in the 200. Junior Ian Thompson (Alexandria, Va.) won a pair of races as well, touching the wall in 51.36 seconds to win the 100 back before swimming 46.42 for gold in the 100 free. Thompson also anchored the 400 free relay to victory, teaming with Jack Doherty (Middletown, Conn.), Colin Wright (Williamsburg, Va.), and Eric Grimes (Louisville, Ky.) to win in 3:05.59.
Those three were also individual winners in their own rights. Doherty won the 100 fly in 50.49 seconds, while Wright broke the Tribe’s dual-meet record in the 200 free with a time of 1:40.21. The previous record of 1:40.44 had stood for three years, since Will Manion ’16 set it as a senior. Grimes picked up his win in the 50 free, sprinting the course in 21.37 seconds. Grimes also anchored the 200 medley relay to a win in the afternoon’s first event, alongside Colin Demers (Virginia Beach, Va.), Ian Bidwell (Pelham, N.Y.), and Doherty. That quartet cleared the course in 1:32.48. Rounding out the winners were freshman Steven Thalblum (Ashburn, Va.), who won the 200 fly in 1:51.58, and junior Lee Bradley (Crestwood, Ky.), who took the 200 back in 1:53.06.
William & Mary finishes out the regular season next weekend, hosting VMI at noon on Saturday, Jan. 26. Before the start of the meet at the Rec Center, the Tribe will take a moment to honor its eight senior women and six senior men.
Courtesy: Davidson Athletics
Sarah Helen Shepherd won twice and Davidson touched the wall first in four events to highlight Saturday’s home meet against William & Mary in Charles A. Cannon Pool.
A week after winning three events against UNC Wilmington, the sophomore from Chapel Hill set the pace in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:22.16 – her personal-best by 0.35 second – and won the 400 individual medley in 4:30.43. She added a second-place finish in the 200 free.
Isabella McElrath added a win in the 200 butterfly (2:07.47), and reigning Atlantic 10 Men’s Rookie of the Week Thacher Scannell won the 500 free (4:36.85) and took second in the 1,000 free.
Davidson turned in a number of runner-up performances. For the women, Hope Carpenter earned second in the 100 and 200 backstrokes, while Maggie Farrell placed second in the 50 free. The 200 medley relay team also took second.
The men’s 400 free relay team was second, as was Walt Dauksher (200 free), Brian Hynes (200 fly), Ian Hentenaar (100 free) and Owen Corkery (200 back).
Up Next
Davidson visits Gardner-Webb Saturday, Feb. 2.
