Sophomore Ben Cono broke the all-time program record in the 100 breaststroke Saturday to lead the Loyola University Maryland swimming and diving teams in the annual Thomas Murphy Invitational at Mangione Pool.
Cono finished the two-day meet with a pair of victories, winning the 100 breast and 200 breast, while senior Zeke Wolfgang won the 100 back and freshman Lindsey Staszewski swept the diving events.
In the 100 breast, Cono turned in an NCAA B cut qualifying time of 55.35 to better Matt Fralinger’s school-record time of 55.55 from 2011, while he also beat teammate John Callaghan to the wall in the 200 breast, touching in 2:02.40. Callaghan finished runner-up with a time of 2:08.46.
Alyssa Gialamas also set a new American record in the s5 100 back, finishing the race in 1:36.90.
Wolfgang captured the 100 back title for the men’s team, finishing in 52.48, and also teamed with Cono, Rich Mueller and Madison Hardimon for a second-place finish in the 400 medley relay. The quartet combined for a time of 3:27.34.
Staszewski, the Corvias Patriot League Female Diver of the Week this week, swept the boards for a second time this season, as she won 1-meter diving with a score of 241.80. She also captured her third-straight 3-meter title with a score of 242.76 to remain undefeated on that board.
Noel Theroux turned in a pair of runner-up finishes on the diving boards to lead the men’s divers. He took second in 1-meter diving with a score of 274.35 and second in 3-meter diving with a score of 238.21.
In the pool, Maddie Myers and Lizzie McKenna also logged a pair of runner-up finishes, while Theresa McKallen was second in the 200 breast (2:27.42), Kait Richter touched second in the 200 fly (2:10.40) and Tara Mulligan was the runner-up in the 100 breast race (1:07.08).
Myers turned in a time of 5:12.48 to finish second in the 500 free and she completed the 400 IM in 4:40.05, good for second. In the 100 back, McKenna finished runner-up in 1:00.38 and she touched second in the 200 back with a time of 2:09.08.
Loyola’s men’s and women’s 800 free relay teams rounded out the Greyhounds’ top finishers, as both squads combined for second-place finishes.
On the women’s side, the team of Jenna Egan, Aly Pacitti, Cara Egan and Myers combined for a time of 7:59.52, while the men’s squad of Chris Cary, North Woods, Jack Bair and Hardimon finished in 7:06.02.
In addition to events in the pool, senior Cara Egan was named this year’s recipient of the Thomas J. Murphy, Jr. Scholarship.
As a team, Boston College’s men beat Loyola, 222-148, while the Greyhounds also fell to Johns Hopkins, 226-132. The women’s squad narrowly lost to Boston College, 190-180, while it also fell to Johns Hopkins, 196-168.
Loyola’s women will return to action on Friday, Nov. 6, when the Greyhounds travel to Mount St. Mary’s for a 4 p.m. meet. Both squads will return to Mangione Pool on Saturday, Nov. 14, when Loyola hosts Howard and VMI.
