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Navy Extends Leads at Patriot League Meet

The Navy swimming and diving teams combined to win seven of the nine events contested Thursday on day two of the Patriot League Championship at Kinney Natatorium on the Bucknell campus in Lewisburg, Pa.  Today’s efforts means the Mids have won 11 of the 14 events held thus far at the meet and each Navy squad will take leads into the final two days of the championship.
 
Navy’s men’s team has totaled 318 points to hold a 114-point advantage over second-place Bucknell’s total of 204 points and a 122-point cushion over Boston University’s tally of 196 points. 
 
“The effort and intensity was there for us, both in the morning and at night,” said Navy men’s swimming head coach Bill Roberts.  “We had some very good swims, and we also had some swims we know left room for improvement.  We are looking forward to Friday, after which everyone will have competed in the meet.”
 
While the Navy men’s team has won five of the seven events held at the meet, the Navy women’s program has captured six of the seven titles it has vied for.  That gives the Mids a two-day tally of 305 points and places them 74 points in front of second-place Bucknell (231) and 126 points ahead of third-place Lehigh (179).
 
“The team performed really well today,” said Navy women’s swimming head coach John Morrison. “There are still things we have to clean up, but overall we are very pleased.”
 
Rachael Dudley and Jenny Smith started the evening off well for Navy as Dudley won and Smith placed third in the 500 freestyle final.  Dudley, who won the event two years ago, posted a time of 4:49.30 to win the event by just over one-half a second.  Boston’s Stephanie Nasson, who bettered Dudley by nearly two seconds for the fastest time in the morning trial heat, finished in second place with a clocking of 4:49.86, while Smith, the No. 3 seed coming out of the trial heats, recorded a time of 4:51.44 to place third.
 
“The 500 free really helped set the tone for the evening,” said Morrison.  “Going into the race, Rachael and Jenny were going up against, among others, a very talented swimmer in Nasson.  We knew it was going to be a battle, and it helped having a Navy swimmer on either side of her.  Rachael was able to jockey with her while swimming a great race of her own, and that pushed her to a really strong finish for a 500 free.  And it was great to see Jenny come up third in the race too.”
 
The event also saw Navy’s Madeline Bliss place third and Emily Ranzau finish in seventh place in the consolation final.
 
Navy dominated the men’s edition of the 500 free, with Mids accounting for each of the top three and five of the top-six finishers in the championship final.  Tom Duvall posted a time of 4:20.27 to win the event for the second year in a row.  Teammate Alex Nickell placed second with a time of 4:21.48, while Noah Martin finished in third place with a clocking of 4:24.23.
 
Bucknell’s Louis Behnen placed fourth with a time of 4:24.59, but he was followed by Navy’s Jonathan Debaugh in fifth place (4:25.60) and Riley Mita in sixth (4:25.70).  Additionally, Navy’s Ethan Whitaker placed eighth in the consolation final of the 500 free.
 
The Mids ran their winning streak to three in row on the night when Charlotte Meyer broke the Navy, Patriot League and Patriot League Championship record in winning the 200 individual medley final.  Meyer touched the wall in a time of 1:59.34 to better the standards of 1:59.95 set three years ago by Laura Gorinski.
 
“Charlotte is certainly a talented swimmer,” said Morrison.  “It was exciting to see her be able to reach the level where she was at tonight.  She took off like a rocket and after that there really wasn’t anyone in the race with her.  It was a fantastic effort by her.”
 
Meyer’s teammate Kaitlyn O’Reilly took the silver medal in the final with her time of 2:02.39, while fellow Mid Ellen Bradford placed fifth with her clocking of 2:04.12.
 
A trio of Mids also advanced to the championship final of the men’s 200 individual medley, with Young Tae Seo leading all swimmers in the field with a winning time of 1:47.72.  His clocking bettered that of Boston’s Quinn Smith, who had posted a time of 1:48.18.
 
Seo had placed fifth in Thursday morning’s trial heats of the 200 IM, finishing 1.2 seconds in back of Boston’s Mun Hon Lee and 1.18 second behind Quinn.
 
“Young Tae showed a lot of grit,” said Roberts, “not only with coming back tonight after finishing fifth this morning but also during the final.  There was a point at which it could have gone a couple of different directions. 
 
“He had a terrific breaststroke leg tonight, which was the difference from his swim this morning.  That, and how he both swam and approached the race this evening.”
 
Navy’s Marlin Brutkiewicz placed fifth in the championship final with his posting of 1:50.50, while teammate Morgan DeJong tallied a time of 1:50.60 to finish in sixth place.
 
Though Navy’s winning streak came to a halt with the results of the next event, the women’s 50 free, the Mids once again had qualified three swimmers for the championship final.  Lehigh’s Kaitlyn Ruffing posted a time of 22.91 to win the final, with Army’s Molly Mucciarone finishing in second place with her clocking of 22.96.  Following in the next three spots were Navy’s Maddi Thompson in third (23.06), Kenzie Margroum in fourth (23.27) and Brianna Bilunas in fifth (23.35).
 
Also helping Navy’s efforts in the sprint event was Molly Kuenstler, who placed second in the consolation final.
 
Army’s Chris Szekely would win the men’s 50 free championship final with his clocking of 20.22, while Lehigh’s Jamal Willis placed second to Szekely with his posting of 20.30.  The lone member of the Navy team to advance to the top final was Dain Bomberger, and he would finish in third place with a time of 20.38.
 
Also scoring points for the Mids in the event were Joe Lane, who won the consolation final, and Ethan King, who placed fourth in the B race.
 
The first women’s diving event of the championship saw Navy’s Julie Jesse accrue 252.70 points to win the one-meter title.  Jesse won the final over Bucknell’s Tori Molchany, who had posted a score of 241.25. 
 
Joining Jesse in reaching the championship final from Navy was Hannah Collins, who finished in seventh place with her score of 2:18.65.  Navy’s Amanda Zerphy also added points to the team’s tally as she placed 11th in the preliminary rounds of diving Thursday afternoon.
 
“I was really proud of how well Julie dove today in both the prelims and the finals,” said Navy diving coach Rich MacDonald.  “She has two solid lists.
 
“Hannah and Amanda had good meets, as well.  It was a very competitive field.  I’m excited about today and looking forward to the rest of the weekend.”
 
The final event of the night was the 200 freestyle relay, and the Mids ended the evening as they began it by sweeping the two titles.
 
The women’s edition of the race came down to the final strokes as Navy was able to edge Army by two-tenths of a second for the victory.  Anchor swimmer Margroum entered the water trailing by five-hundredths of a second, but she cruised through her lap in a time of 22.82 to give the Mids the slim victory over the Black Knights.  Navy’s foursome consisting of Thompson, Kuenstler, Bilunas and Margroum recorded an overall time of 1:32.63 to defeat the clocking of 1:32.83 attained by Army.
 
“We felt good about our chances in the 200 free relay,” said Morrison.  “We had a great 50 free group on the blocks.  We expected them to perform well, but at the same time we knew we had to be a little cautious, such as with our starts.  Maddi had a strong start and then Brianna had a phenomenal split.  So even with our cautious starts we were right there with everyone heading into the end of the race, which Kenzie finished up for us with a great last 50.
 
“It was a great way to finish the night.”
 
The Navy men also were challenged in its race as the Mids were in third place after 50 yards and second at the midpoint of the race.  However, a great third leg by King gave Navy a nearly four-tenths of a second cushion heading into the anchor leg, which allowed Duvall to touch the wall in an overall time of 1:20.02 and give the Mids the victory.  Lehigh placed second in the race with its clocking of 1:20.34.
 
Lane and Bomberger were Navy’s initial two swimmers in the race.
 
“It was a terrific race,” said Roberts of the relay final.  “We felt it would be a three-team race. Mathematically after the morning heats, we were not the favorite heading into the final.  I was happy with the effort and sprinting abilities of our guys to put together four good legs in the order we needed.”
 
The event continues Friday and wraps up Saturday.
 
Women’s Standings
1.    305 – Navy
2.    231 – Bucknell
3.    179 – Lehigh
4.    177 – Boston U.
5.    165 – Army
6.    118 – Colgate
7.    67 – American
8.    62 – Lafayette
9.    60 – Loyola
10.   46 – Holy Cross
 
Men’s Standings
1.    318 – Navy
2.    204 – Bucknell
3.    196 – Boston U.
4.    195 – Army
5.    149 – Lehigh
6.    105 – Loyola
7.    70 - Lafayette
8.    65 - Colgate
9.    50 – Holy Cross
10.   40 - American

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