Army Men
The Army West Point men's swimming and diving team defeated Bucknell, 174-117, Saturday afternoon to complete a 2-0 sweep on the weekend. The Black Knights earned the top three spots in seven events over the Bison on senior day.
"I'm so proud of the entire program today," said head coach Mickey Wender. "The swimmers and divers and men and women have been growing and developing into the best team that I've seen here in my ten years. It was a great way to send out our firstie class. They have been a cornerstone of the program and have built a culture where everybody has the opportunity to grow to their full potential. I think our men's and women's relationship has grown and it showed today. The seniors over the four years have contributed so much.
"It's fun to have these milestone wins. Bucknell is a talented team that is well coached so it makes it that much more meaningful to beat them head-to-head coming off a challenging night against Lehigh."
The Black Knights kicked-off the meet with a sweep in the 200 medley relay. The team of Josh Sembrano, Joseph Daniels, Austin Kong and Chris Szekely were first after finishing in 1:32.31. Matt McPheters, Colin Kanzari, Sean Regan and Brandon McCredie (1:33.63) were second, while Pierre Archambeau, Nick Treiberg, Sam Mo and Adam Sjoholm were third (1:33.67).
In the 1,000 free, Tom Ottman earned a first-place finish with a time of 9:27.10. Clay Harmon was third in 9:46.01.
Rude and McCall went one-two in the 200 free with times of 1:40.21 and 1:43.34.
Sembrano claimed first in the 100 back (49.51) and was followed by McPheters (51.13). Kanzari, Daniels and S. Mo went one-two-three in the 100 breast. Kanzari had a time of 57.42, while Daniels recorded a 57.55 and Mo had a 58.33.
Army swept in the 200 fly. Yang (1:51.25) was first, Blankenbeker was second (1:54.41) and Regan took third (1:56.04).
The Black Knights tallied a top-three finish in the 50 free. Szekely (20.74) earned the first-place spot and was followed by McCredie (21.33) and Kong (21.58).
Army turned around and swept in the 100 free. Szekely (45.22), Rude (45.88) and Sjoholm (47.32) took the top spots for the Black Knights.
Sembrano (1:49.31) and Yang (1:49.77) were Army's top finishers in the 200 back and Ottman took second in the 500 free with a time of 4:40.14.
The Black Knights tallied a sweep in the 200 breast with Mo (2:05.47), Kanzari (2:08.52) and Daniels (2:10.85) going one-two-three.
Kong placed first in the 100 fly after touching the wall in 50.25, while Mo, McCredie and Regan followed directly behind with times of 50.40 and 51.57.
During the diving portion of the meet, Joe Frullaney placed second off the 1-meter for Army with a score of 263.85. Edward Emery was fourth with 179.02 points. Off the 3-meter, Emery was third with marks of 199.80.
"We purposefully set up these meets to swim tired and sore and perform the next day," explained Wender. "We did a great job, but this is one step along the way. We have bigger fish to fry and we are on our way to a great conference meet."
The Black Knights improve to 6-1 on the season and return to action Saturday, Jan. 16 when they face Colgate and Lafayette in Hamilton, N.Y.
Army Women
For the fifth time in program history, and the first in head coach Mickey Wender's tenure, the Army West Point women's swimming and diving team defeated Bucknell. The Black Knights beat the Bison 172-128 Saturday afternoon at Crandall Pool.
"I'm so proud of the entire program today," said Wender. "The swimmers and divers and men and women have been growing and developing into the best team that I've seen here in my ten years. It was a great way to send out our firstie class. They have been a cornerstone of the program and have built a culture where everybody has the opportunity to grow to their full potential. I think our men's and women's relationship has grown and it showed today. The seniors over the four years have contributed so much.
"It's fun to have these milestone wins. Bucknell is a talented team that is well coached so it makes it that much more meaningful to beat them head-to-head coming off a challenging night against Lehigh."
Jorie Mason won the 3-meter diving event to earn overall team points that led to Army's success in the meet. She notched a score of 221.77 to place first. Rebecca Sleight tallied 126.06 points to place sixth.
Off the 1-meter, Mason had a score of 189.59 to place first and Sleight had 153.22 to place sixth.
The Black Knights kicked-off the swimming portion of the meet with a first-place finish in the 200 medley relay. Kelly Hamilton, Kara Wineinger, Molly Mucciarone and Bailey Smith clocked a 1:45.84. They were followed by Cecelia Croman, Jess Fabrizio, Shannon Rogers and Jenna Forrester, who placed third with a time of 1:47.89.
Sabrina Mortell out-touched the competition in the 1,000 free. She finished in 10:46.29, while Meaghan McGovern was second with a time of 10:31.96.
In the 200 free, Monica Sowinski placed first after finishing in 1:53.95. Hamilton placed second in the 100 back with a time of 56.39.
In the 100 breast, Wineinger was first in 1:06.80, while Fabrizio touched third in 1:08.08. Rogers and Groton were Army's top finishers in the 200 fly with times of 2:08.61 and 2:09.18
Mucciarone clocked a 23.68 in the 50 free to place first, and in the 100 free, Hamilton and Sowinski went one-two with times of 51.95 and 53.19.
Smith took second in the 200 back after touching the wall in 2:04.17 and in the 200 breast, Wineinger placed second after finishing in 2:25.88.
The Cadets swept Bucknell in the 500 free with Mortell (5:05.79), McGovern (5:11.46) and Sowinski (5:14.92) leading the competition.
Mucciarone claimed first in the 100 fly after clocking a 56.49, and Rogers was third in 58.28, respectively.
Burkett won the 400 IM with a time of 4:31.32. Evans touched fourth in 4:38.24.
In the 400 free relay, Army was first with the team of Hamilton, Mucciarone, Smith and Sowinski touching the wall in 3:31.08, while Forrester, Bush, Clay and Rogers had a third-place time of 3:41.00.
"We purposefully set up these meets to swim tired and sore and perform the next day," explained Wender. "We did a great job, but this is one step along the way. We have bigger fish to fry and we are on our way to a great conference meet."
The Black Knights improve to 6-1 on the season and return to action Saturday, Jan. 16 when they face Colgate and Lafayette in Hamilton, N.Y
