William & Mary Women, Navy Men Claim Victory At WVU Invitational

2024 WVU Invite

• November 20-22, 2024
• Morgantown, WV
• 25 Yards (SCY)
• Participating Teams: WVU, Navy, James Madison, Old Dominion, Villanova, William & Mary, Clarion, Duquesne
• Full Results: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

Women’s Standings

1. William and Mary (1,853)
2. Villanova (1,753.50)
3. Navy (1,621.50)
4. West Virginia (1,530)
5. Old Dominion (504)
6. James Madison (187/diving only)
7. Clarion (160/diving only)
8. Duquesne (72/diving only)

Men’s Standings

1. Navy (2,600)
2. West Virginia (1,754)
3. Villanova (1,200)
4. Old Dominion (1,045)
5. William & Mary (894)
6. Clarion (212/diving only)

Courtesy: Tribe Athletics

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The William & Mary swimming teams had an impressive outing at the three-day West Virginia Invitational over the week, highlighted by a school record performance from Claire Neilly in the 400 IM.

In total, the Tribe saw nine event winners and nearly 30 top-16 all-time performances in school history. The women’s team finished with the highest combined team score at the meet, totaling 1853 points.

As a whole, W&M finished fourth in the team standings in the field of eight.

DAY ONE
The Tribe had a highly productive opening day at the meet, seeing 10 all-time top-16 performances and four first place finishes in the finals.

Flynn Truskett won the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.00, the seventh-fastest time in school history. Ellie Scherer also won the 200 IM (2:01.52).

In the relays, the 200 freestyle team of Caroline Burgeson, Sarah Dunham, Zoe Arakelian, and Truskett took home the prize with a time of 1:32.47, another top-16 performance, as did the 400 medley relay composed of Julie Addison, Scherer, Lindsay Juhlin, and Bergeson (3:39.44). That was good for the fourth-fastest time ever.

Other notable finals performances included Tess Lankford, who clocked in the fourth-fastest time in program history in the 200 IM (2:01.56) and Lauren Tucker, who swam the 500 freestyle in 4:53.01 for another top-10.

DAY TWO
The highlight of day two was the freshman phenom Neilly, who blew away the school record in the 400 IM finals with a time of 4:15.28. She broke the previous record by over four seconds en route to winning the event.

Elsewhere in day two action, the women’s 200 medley relay quartet of Dunham, Scherer, Juhlin, and Burgeson took home first place with a time of 1:40.27, fourth-fastest in school history. The men’s team — Logan McDonald, Brock Rempe, Alex Valliere, and Aiden Bond — placed third clocking in at 1:28.05, good for another top-five program record.

In the 100 breaststroke finals, Scherer improved upon her time in the prelims with a mark of 1:01.89 as she finished second. Sophia Heilen had the fourth-fastest time in program records, clocking in at 1:02.15.

DAY THREE
The Tribe added three first-place finishes to their tally on Friday evening. Burgeson took home the prize in the 100 freestyle, finishing in a personal-record time of 50.16.

In the 200 breaststroke, Heilen was able to improve her preliminary time with another PR, winning the finals at 2:13.74. That stands as third in the all-time records.

In addition, Truskett, Dunham, Juhlin, and Burgeson teamed up to win the 400 butterfly relay (3:22.19), securing another top-10 performance. The men’s team (Valliere, Bond, McDonald, and David Yune) also swam well, placing second with a mark of 2:58.21.

Elsewhere on the women’s side, Clara Bodnar timed out at 2:01.77 in the finals of the 200 butterfly, while Truskett finished the 100 freestyle in 50.52. Both were top-10 all-time performances.

UP NEXT
W&M will have the month of December off before gearing up for the Tribe Quad Meet on Jan. 11. The meet will be hosted at the Hampton Aquaplex in Hampton, Va.

Courtesy: Navy Athletics

MORGANTOWN, W.VA. — The Navy men’s swimming and diving team totaled 10 event victories and nine second-place finishes to win the five-team West Virginia Invitational which concluded Friday at The Peak Health Aquatic Center at Mylan Park in Morgantown, W.Va.  The Navy women’s team finished the three-day meet in third place after it tallied two victories and eight medals.

The men amassed 2,600 points to finish over 800 points ahead of the second-place finishing Mountaineers (1,754).  William & Mary totaled 1,853 points to win the women’s meet, Villanova placed second with 1,753.50 points and the Mids accrued 1,621.50 points to place third.

“We were happy with our performances this week,” said Navy men’s swimming head coach Bill Roberts.  “This team did a terrific job of racing, competing and finding ways to continue to improve both in the water and on the boards.  They have worked extremely hard all season long and it was rewarding to see this group produce consistent quality performances throughout the three days.”

“Thanks to West Virginia for hosting a great meet and providing an epic celebration for our seniors who learned of their service assignments Thursday during the meet,” said Navy women’s swimming head coach John Morrison.  “We were very pleased with the racing and grit our team displayed from the first heat Wednesday morning to the final relay Friday night.

“Overall, our racing was very strong throughout each session. We still need to clean up some things heading into our last meet of the calendar year.”

Men’s Meet
Navy had a strong opening day to the meet to build a lead of nearly 300 points over West Virginia.  The Mids accrued 761 points on day one to better the score of 478 points posted by the Mountaineers.  Navy accomplished this despite winning only two events.

Everet Andrew won the opening individual event of the meet, the 500 freestyle, with a time of 4:24.49.  He led a 1-2-3-4 finish by the Mids as Dean Jones placed second (4:25.57) and Luca Oliva claimed third place (4:27.53).

Navy’s additional victory on the Wednesday came in the 400 medley relay.  The team of Ben Irwin, Juan Mora, Lachlan Andrew and Everet Andrew won the event in a time of 3:11.57.

Earlier in the session, Mora had placed second in the 200 IM (1:47.50) to finish one spot in front of teammate Coleman Yates (1:47.70) and the 200 free relay team of Gavin Green, Simon Thompson, Lachlan Andrew and Austin Lockhart also won the silver medal (1:19.90).

Navy expanded its advantage to almost 700 points after day two as it had scored a total of 1,851 points and led West Virginia’s second-place total of 1,195 points.  The Mids did this by winning five of the eight events contested on the day, placing second four times and recording a pair of third-place showings.

The evening began with Navy’s 200 medley relay team of Irwin, Mora, Lachlan Andrew and Green winning the race in a time of 1:26.47.  That was followed by Irwin placing second (47.67) and Lachlan Andrew finishing in third place (48.34) in the 100 fly.  Oliva followed with a third-place finish in the 400 IM (3:59.30), then Everet Andrew placed second in the next event, the 200 free, with a time of 1:37.59.

The Mids would win the remaining four events contested on the day.

The run started with Mora winning the 100 breast in a time of 52.82 and Green placing second (53.48).  Mora’s effort was under the NCAA B cut standard of 53.43.  Irwin posted a time of 47.06 to win the 100 back to beat the NCAA B cut time (47.16), then Blakeman Shaw won the one-meter diving event in a time of 374.70.  Shaw easily surpassed the NCAA Zone Diving Championship qualifying standard of 300 points.  Teammate Anthony Sciulli joined Shaw on the podium with a second-place score of 281.85.

Navy’s 800 free relay team of Everet Andrew, Jones, Conor Cranfield and Benjamin Stankovich closed the night by winning the event in a time of 6:30.67.

Friday began for the men with the way Thursday ended as the Mids placed first, second and third in the 200 backstroke.  Irwin posted a time of 1:42.35 to win the event, Yates followed in second with his time of 1:47.06 and Will de la Garza recorded a 1:47.24 to place third.

The run of five victories came to an end in the 100 freestyle as Lockhart was the top Navy finisher with his fifth-place effort of 44.78.  That was followed by Mora winning the 200 breaststroke in a time of 1:55.32.  The final individual event of the meet saw Tyler Kaminski take the silver medal in the 200 fly (1:49.10).

Also, Navy’s Dean Jones would win the timed finals in the 1650 free with his effort of 15:24.90.  Luca Oliva finished in second place with a clocking of 15:47.32.

Navy then placed fourth in the meet-closing 400 freestyle relay as the team of Stankovich, Evan McKelvey, Jones and Lachlan Andrew combined for a time of 2:59.68.

Women’s Meet
Navy ended day one in third place with 440.5 points.  The Mids trailed leader William & Mary by 100.5 points (543.5) and second-place Villanova by 46.5 points (496).

The top individual event showings on the day for Navy came from Catherine Weaverling and Lily Barrett.  Weaverling placed fourth in the 200 IM (2:02.77) and Barrett finished in fourth place in one-meter diving (242.35).  Weaverling also placed fifth in the 50 free final (23.59) and Sarah Eldridge finished in seventh place in the 500 free (4:56.91).

Navy scored well in the two relay events contested on the opening day.  The Mids opened the meet with a fourth-place showing in the 200 free relay (1:34.44 by Megan Murphy, Tiffany Shields, Allie Maloney, Samantha Clifford) and ended it with a second-place finish in the 400 medley relay event (3:41.98 by Ela Habjan, Lauren Walsh, Caroline Irwin, Tiffany Shields).

The Navy deficits in the team standings remained roughly the same after day two, but with a flip of the two teams ahead of it.  Villanova surged into first place with 1,233.5 points, William & Mary fell to second with 1,215 points and the Mids were in third place with 1,174.5 points.

Navy earned its first two victories of the invite in back-to-back events as Walsh won the 100 breast in a time of 1:01.65 and Habjan won the 100 back with an effort of 54.32.

Additional medalists on Thursday were Weaverling, who placed third in the 100 fly (54.46) and Kim, who earned the bronze in three-meter diving (271.85).  Completing the list of top finishers in events were Eldridge in the 400 IM (fifth, 4:23.91) and Erin Miller in the 200 free (eighth, 1:52.13).

The Mids also finished in second place in the 200 medley relay as the team of Habjan, Walsh, Irwin and Shields compiled a time of 1:41.69.  Additionally, the 800 free relay team of Miller, Clifford, Brynn Stoneburg and Maloney posted a time of 7:35.79 to place seventh.

Weaverling also was Navy’s top-placing swimmer in an event on Friday. She posted a time of 2:01.36 to place third in the 200 fly.

Maloney was the top Navy finisher in the 200 back as her effort of 2:01.16 gave her a fourth-place showing.  Eldridge finished in seventh place in the 1650 timed finals with her clocking of 17:07.45.  Rounding out the individual events were Walsh placing fifth in the 200 breast (2:16.61) and Shields finishing in seventh place in the 100 free (51.53).

Navy closed the meet with a third-place finish in the 400 free relay.  The team of Shields, Weaverling, Miller and Irwin compiled a time of 3:24.87 to earn the bronze medal.

“Our senior class led from the front,” said Morrison.  “Catherine Weaverling had some great swims in each of her events, and Tiffany Shields and Caroline Irwin followed suit.

“Ela Habjan and Lauren Walsh had two great swims on the second night of the finals.  Our entire freshman class did an excellent job of adjusting to their first collegiate meet in a championship format.  Allie Maloney and Elsie Delacruz really stepped up to the competition.  Divers Mackenzie Kim and Lily Barrett provided us with some much needed points to keep us in third place ahead of West Virginia.”

Up Next
The Navy teams will compete at Army on Thursday, Dec. 5.

Courtesy: WVU Sports

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams finished competition on Friday at The Peak Health Aquatic Center at Mylan Park in Morgantown as the men’s team placed second and the women’s team placed fourth at the WVU Invitational.

The Mountaineers grabbed two top-three finishes in the women’s 1,650-yard freestyle to begin the evening as junior Olivia Busch (16:56.81) and senior Miranda Kirtley (17:02.50) placed second and third, respectively.

In the women’s 200-yard backstroke, sophomore Delaney Cox swam the sixth fastest time in the event in program history as she won the event with a time of 1:57.50.

Junior Gabriela Martin was impressive in the women’s 100-yard freestyle, placing second with a final time of 50.29. She finished just behind William and Mary’s Caroline Burgeson, who touched the wall at 50.16. On the men’s side, senior Conner McBeth earned a third-place finish, touching the wall at 44.38.

Redshirt senior Danny Berlitz secured the highest individual finish of the night for WVU after he placed second in the 200 breaststroke (1:56.50).

In the women’s 200 butterfly, sophomore Maddie Smutny added to her impressive week after touching the wall at 1:59.23 to win the event. This marked the fifth-fastest time in the event in program history.

On the men’s side, junior Álvaro Santiago snagged third (1:49.61).

West Virginia rounded out the night with the women’s 400 freestyle relay team placing second (3:24.13).

The men’s relay team comprised of Berlitz, McBeth, and seniors Roanoke Shirk and Braden Osborn, were uncatchable as they won the 400 freestyle relay (2:54.60).

In the diving well, three divers posted NCAA Zone qualifying scores on the platform. Freshman Levi Hellmann (303.50), sophomore Owen Recker (348.80) and junior Abigail Sullivan (244.75) each posted qualifying scores for WVU.

Recker won the men’s platform event, while Hellmann placed second. Sullivan placed second on the women’s platform for WVU.

The men’s and women’s diving teams also picked up wins in the team diving events.

Courtesy: Villanova Athletics

MORGANTOWN, W. Va – Villanova swimming and diving wrap up their time at the WVU invitational. At the conclusion of the meet, the women’s team finished in second place with a total score of 1753.5 closely behind William and Mary scoring 1853. The men finish off in third place overall with their score of 1200 behind Navy and West Virginia.

The Wildcats finished today’s competition with two first place finished. Sophomore Justin Nowicki swam 1:48.95 in the preliminaries of the 200 fly, he was able to shave off a second and touched the wall at 1:47.76 in the finals helping him claim first. Sophomore Peri Gaguzis took first in the 1650 free with her time of 16:51.79, cutting off over 7 second from her personal best.

Following closely behind Nowicki is Theo Morse taking sixth in the 200 fly with his time of 1:51.54 and a personal best for him. Freshman Melson Arquillano took seventh clocking a 1:52.93.

Gaguzis was not alone in the 1650 free, Pepper Ritchey was able to claim eighth place with her time of 17:15.72 with Marlene Blanke following in tenth timing in at 17:22.18. On the men’s side, Freshman Owen Nye claimed third place with his time of 15:49.40. Patrick Casey grabbed eighth touching the wall at 15:57.89.

In the 200 back, Alane Leen got a personal best and second place with her time of 1:59.41. Francesca Raimondi got 13^th clocking a time of 2:06.95. The men had Aubrey Bowles in 13^th with his time of 1:50.05. Cole Gorsuch was close behind him in 15^th touching in at 1:52.01.

Fourth place in the 100 free went to sophomore Riley Kudlac (50.92) and eighth was claimed by Amylia Higgins (51.83). Patrick Hemingway was able to claim 12^th for the men as he swam 45.46. Gavin Peck achieved 14^th swimming 45.54 and got a new personal best.

The 200 breast fourth place went to Annie Honkamp touching the wall at 2:16.60. In ninth is Winnie Jalet and her time of 2:19.54. The men had Max Christensen claiming 11^th (2:04.81), Henry Halloran taking 14th (2:05.49) and Wade Weston with his time of 2:05.67.

Katie White swam 2:00.82 in the preliminaries where she took first, in the finals she was able to claim second place and cut her time down to 2:00.16. Arabella Lee achieved fourth place clocking in at 2:01.38. Following her was Meghan Tiernan with 2:01.72 and Anna Farley with her time of 2:01.74, and a new personal best.

The ‘Cats are back in action on December 15^th.