Navy Teams Remain in First Place at Patriot League Meet

LEWISBURG, Pennsylvania, February 17. THE Navy women's swimming and diving team set five school records and won seven of eight events on the night to maintain its hold on first place at the Patriot League Championship, Saturday night in Lewisburg, Pa. The Navy men's team won a pair of events and set two school records on the night, but the depth of the program allowed the Mids to also end the day in first place.

The Navy women's team has totaled 520 points through two days of the meet and holds a 98-point edge over second-place Bucknell (422) and a 137-point advantage over third-place Colgate (387). Meanwhile, the Navy men's team has totaled 569 points at the meet and leads second-place Army by 64 points (504).

Navy's women's team held a 38-point lead after the opening day of the meet, while the men's program held a 74-point advantage.

The three-day championship will conclude Sunday.

"We are very pleased with how we performed again tonight," said Navy women's swimming head coach John Morrison. "It was an amazing night for us and we are looking to keep it going tomorrow."

"Tonight was a continuation of what took place in our races Friday," said Navy men's swimming head coach Bill Roberts. "Guys are dropping times and setting career bests in every event. To break a 10-year old school record in the 800 free relay is a great accomplishment.

"We're excited about what we have the opportunity to achieve Sunday."

The Navy women's team began the night by winning its third relay title of the championship by posting a victory in the 200 medley relay. The Navy team of Jennie Spencer (So., Smithburg, W.Va.), Aubra Thomas (Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.), Mallory Dietrich (Fr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Thuy-Mi Dinh (Fr., Anaheim, Calif.) set a Navy record with a winning time of 1:44.25. The Mids broke the school standard of 1:44.69 and won the event by nearly one-half of a second over second-place Colgate.

"Just like Friday, winning the opening relay was a real spark for us," said Morrison. "Thuy-Mi had a great anchor leg to cap off a tremendous relay."

The Navy men's team placed second in its 200 medley relay, recording a time of 1:32.36 to finish behind Bucknell's winning time of 1:31.93. Navy's foursome consisted of Billy Vey (So., Huntersville, N.C.), Ari Molina (So., Arlington, Va.), Tyler Hill (Jr., Houston, Texas) and Alex Oldenkamp (So., Coppell, Texas).

As the individual events began, Navy's Kelly Zahalka (So., Richmond, Va.) picked up her second title of the championship by winning the 400 individual medley in a Navy, Patriot League and league meet record time of 4:22.95. Her time topped American's Kaitlin Moughty's second-place clocking of 4:24.26 and broke her own records of 4:24.41 set last year when she won the event.

The victory gives Zahalka a sweep of the individual medley events at this year's championship.

Adam Meyer (Fr., Bethesda, Md.) set a Navy record in the prelims of the 400 individual medley, posting a time of 3:56.37 to better the time of 4:00.32 set by Vey last year, then broke his own record in winning the final Saturday night. Meyer's time in the final of 3:54.36 not only won the event, it also broke the league and league meet record of 3:330.3 set three years ago by American's Mark Liscinsky.

Meyer led a one-two-three finish for Navy in the final, as James Lascara (Fr., Charlotte, N.C.), who won the 500 free title Friday night, placed second (4:01.66) and team captain Andy Bockus (Sr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) placed third (4:03.29).

"To finish 1-2-3 in a final is something special," said Roberts.

Dietrich followed Zahalka's performance by setting a school, league and league meet record in winning the 100 butterfly. Dietrich's clocking of 55.77 won her the event by six-tenths of a second over Colgate's Emily Murphy and broke the record of 55.91 set four years ago by Navy's Tori Throckmorton.

Hill then set a career-best time of 49.42 in placing second in the 100 fly to Army's Zach Disbrow. Hill posted a time of 49.42, the fifth-best clocking in the event in Navy history, to finish six-tenths of a second behind Disbrow.

Tara Chapmon (Fr., Virginia Beach, Va.) made it four Navy record-setting performances is a row as she too set a Navy, league and league championship meet record in winning the 200 freestyle. Chapmon recorded a time of 1:50.19 to win the final over American's Meghan Thiel's time of 1:50.81. Her clocking broke her own school record of 1:51.44, as well as the league and the meet record of 1:50.52 set in 1995 by Colleen Lynch of Holy Cross.

Finishing eight-hundredths of a second behind Thiel in third place was Navy's Sarah Dorenkott (Fr., Hudson, Ohio) with a clocking of 1:50.89.

The Navy men's team placed a trio of swimmers into the championship final of the 200 free. Andrew Plumb (Sr., Altadena, Calif.) placed third in the final with a time of 1:41.99, Cody Reeb (Fr., St. Louis, Mo.) placed sixth with a time of 1:42.99 and Greg Schmucker (Sr., Chicago, Ill.) finished in seventh place with a time of 1:43.04.

Dietrich and Thomas then finished first and second in the next event, the 100 breaststroke. Dietrich won the final in a time of 1:03.47, while Thomas recorded a time of 1:04.07. The Navy duo finished ahead of the third-place time of 1:04.33 recorded by Lehigh's Melanie Rolish.

"It was an impressive night for Mallory," said Morrison. "To win a pair of individual events on the same night, the longest night of the championship, no less, is fantastic.

The Navy men next claimed their first championship of the evening as Molina won the 100 breaststroke with a time of 56.44. Molina edged Army's Jake Mentele for the title by just three-hundredths of a second. Also reaching the final for Navy was Mike Lowhorn (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) in sixth place and Andrew Utama (Fr., Walnut Creek, Calif.) in seventh.

Right after the Navy men's team won its second title of the night, the Navy women suffered its lone setback of the evening. Colgate's Beverly Walker won the 100 backstroke for the second-straight year in a time of 56.47, with Spencer following in third place (58.42) and Dinh in fourth (58.66).

The final individual race of the night saw Vey place fourth in the 100 backstroke for the Navy men with a time of 51.38.

In the lone diving event of the night, Navy's Katie Griffin (Jr. Ellicott City, Md.) won the first league crown of her career with a victory on the one-meter springboard. Griffin totaled 261.65 points to outdistance Lindsay Adao of Army by 17 points.

Also reaching the final for Navy were Desiree' Robison (So., Tucson, Ariz.) in sixth place and Rachel Walker (Sr., Katy, Texas) in seventh.

The Navy women's team ended the day in style by setting a trio of records in winning the 800 freestyle relay event by nearly two seconds. The Navy team of Chapmon, Zahalka, Dinh and Dorenkott posted a time of 7:27.85 to break the Navy record by nine seconds, the league meet record by six seconds and the league standard by four seconds.

The session ended with the Navy men's team setting a school record in the 800 freestyle relay, but placing second in the event to Army. The Black Knights posted a time of 6:40.98 to win the race, with the Navy squad of Lascara, Meyer, Hill and Plumb recording a time of 6:41.79.

The Navy effort breaks the standard of 6:42.15 set in 1997.

"What a gutsy effort by our relay at the end of the meet," said Roberts. "They really pulled together and had a great race."

Women's Scores
1. Navy, 520 points
2. Bucknell, 422
3. Colgate, 387
4. Army, 249.5
5. Lehigh, 232
6. Lafayette, 221.5
7. American, 179
8. Holy Cross, 106

Men's Scores
1. Navy, 569 points
2. Army, 504
3. Bucknell, 334
4. Lehigh, 282
5. Colgate, 199
6. American, 149
7. Lafayette, 134
8. Holy Cross, 100

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