Navy Men and Women in First Place at League Swim Meet

LEWISBURG, Pennsylvania, February 16. THE Navy men's and women's swimming teams both stand in first place after the opening day of the Patriot League Championship, being held this weekend at Bucknell.

The Navy men won four of the six finals on the opening day to accrue 293 points, with the Navy women winning four of the five titles Friday evening and finishing the day with 198 points.

The men's team holds a 74-point lead over second-place Army, while the women stand 38 points in front of four-time defending champion Bucknell.

"We are very excited with the way the opening day went for us," said Navy women's swimming head coach John Morrison. "We had a great relay to begin the night which really set the tone for our evening. Now we have to follow up this performance with two more great efforts."

"Our opening relay really was a spark for us tonight," said Navy men's swimming head coach Bill Roberts. "I don't think we were the favorite coming into the race, but having the guys come out on top really fueled us."

The evening began well for both Navy programs as each narrowly won its respective 200 freestyle relay event. In the women's race, Navy's foursome of Thuy-Mi Dinh (Fr., Anaheim, Calif.), Mallory Dietrich (Fr., Pittsburgh, Pa.), Aubra Thomas (Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Sarah Dorenkott (Fr., Hudson, Ohio) set a Navy record in winning the race with a time of 1:34.20. The clocking topped the previous Navy standard of 1:35.13 and gave the Mids the victory by seventh-tenths of a second over second-place Colgate.

The Navy men's team had an even closer finish to its race, outdistancing second-place Army by less than four-tenths of a second. Navy's squad of Alex Oldenkamp (So., Coppell, Texas), Preston Mihalko (So., Chesapeake, Va.), Wren Dupre (Fr., Terrace Park, Ohio) and Andrew Plumb (Sr., Altadena, Calif.) posted a time of 1:22.59 to edge the Black Knights who completed the race with a clocking of 1:22.83.

It was the fourth-straight 200 free relay title for the Mids.

As the individual events began, Tara Chapmon (Fr., Virginia Beach, Va.) set a Navy record in a second-place finish in the 500 freestyle final. Chapmon recorded a time of 4:54.70 to place second to American's Meghan Thiel's time of 4:49.52.

Chapmon's clocking bested the previous Navy record of 4:54.89 set by Jenn Windstein in 2003.

The Navy men placed three swimmers among the top-four finishers in the 500 freestyle final, with James Lascara (Fr., Charlotte, N.C.) winning the race with a career-best time of 4:30.63. Reeb won the race over Bucknell's Luke Trafton by less than four-tenths of a second.

Joining Lascara towards the top of the final standings were Cody Reeb (Fr., St. Louis, Mo.) in third place with a time of 4:31.59, and Tyler Hill (Jr., Houston, Texas) in fourth place with a clocking of 4:32.73. Both Reeb and Hill set respective career-best times in the race.

"James swam a picture perfect race tonight," said Roberts. "This race was a great example of our performances today. We placed multiple swimmers into the finals and they all were able to carry and push each other to new best times."

Kelly Zahalka (So., Richmond, Va.) won Navy's first individual title of the championship, and her second career league title, when she posted a career-best time of 2:03.44 in winning the 200 individual medley. Zahalka, who won the 400 IM title last year, topped American's Kaitlin Moughy by seven-tenths of a second Friday night.

Also scoring key points for the Mids in the final was team captain Thomas, who placed fourth with a time of 2:06.06.

Navy swimmers have now won the 200 individual medley final in five of the last six years.

Billy Vey (So., Huntersville, N.C.) made it three titles in three events for the Navy men's team as he recorded a career-best time in winning the 200 individual medley. Vey's time of 1:51.23 gave him the title over teammate Adam Meyer's (Fr., Bethesda, Md.) second-place time of 1:51.37.

Vey is the first Navy swimmer in the four years the Mids have been competing at the Patriot League Championship to have won the 200 IM event.

The preliminaries of the women's 50 freestyle saw Dinh set a Navy, Patriot League and league meet record in the event with a time of 23.03 and go into the finals as the top-seeded swimmer. She made that seed hold up as she won the final with a time of 23.28. Bucknell's Becca Scheffter placed second in the final with a time of 23.80, while Dorenkott placed third with a clocking of 23.82.

Dinh becomes the first Navy swimmer to win the 50 freestyle at the Patriot League Championship in nine years. The last Mid to win the event was Lee Ann Hurley in 1998.

"Thuy-Mi had a great day," said Morrison. "She is a rookie at the meet, but had a great swim to set several records in the 50 free this afternoon. She was a little nervous heading into tonight, but was the first in the water for us in the 200 free relay and got us off to a great start. She then followed that up with another strong performance in winning the 50 free."

The Navy men's team suffered its first defeat of the championship in the 50 free as Army's Zach Disbrow won the final in a time of 20.45. The Mids placed second and third in the event, however, with Mihalko's career-best time of 20.76 giving him second place by two-hundredths of a second over third-place Oldenkamp.

The preliminary rounds of diving for the men's three-meter springboard event saw Navy's Jonathan Galinski (So., Phoenix, Md.) record the top score with 317.05 points, with teammate Kevin Teague (Sr., Lexington, Ky.) in second place with a score of 313.75. In the end, however, it was Teague who won his fourth title in as many years in the event and his seventh career Patriot League diving crown with a final score of 361.00 points. Army's Greg Sievers placed second in the event with a score of 310.60, while Navy's Adam Niekras (Jr., Liverpool, N.Y.) placed third with a score of 308.30 points. Galinski totaled 287.35 points in the finals to place fourth.

The Navy women closed the evening the same way it began the night by winning a relay event. Navy's team of Jennie Spencer (So., Smithburg, W.Va.), Thomas, Dietrich and Dorenkott recorded a time of 3:47.49 to win the 400 medley relay by 3.7 seconds over second-place Bucknell.

In addition to the victory, the clocking was the fastest in school history in the event (3:51.77) and missed tying the league and league meet record by one-hundredth of a second.

It is just the second 400 medley relay title for Navy in the last eight years.

The Navy men's team, however, was unable to bookend the night with victories as the team ultimately placed second to Army in the 400 medley relay. The Black Knights won the race in a time of 3:19.56, with the Navy foursome of Vey, Molina, Hill and Mihalko recording a time of 3:21.59.

The three-day championship continues Saturday and Sunday at Bucknell.

Men's Scores
1. Navy, 293 points
2. Army, 219
3. Lehigh 137
4. Bucknell, 133
5. Colgate, 88
6. American, 54
7. Holy Cross, 50
7. Lafayette, 50

Women's Scores
1. Navy, 198 points
2. Bucknell, 160
3. Colgate, 147
4. Army, 107
5. Lafayette, 86
6. American, 85
7. Lehigh, 82
8. Holy Cross, 50

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