2022 Atlantic 10 Championships: George Washington Sweeps Titles in Divergent Fashions

Photo Courtesy: Atlantic 10 Athletics

2022 Atlantic 10 Championships: George Washington Sweeps Titles in Divergent Fashions

There’s no wrong way to win a title, George Washington showed last weekend at the 2022 Atlantic 10 Championships. On the men’s side, the Colonials claimed their fifth title in six years by winning 14 events, placing a swimmer on the podium in every event but one.

The women got the job done in similarly convincing fashion with just two golds, none in the relays. In a meet where three schools won relays and six won swimming gold medals, an infusion of freshman talent led to a wide-open field. George Washington’s 701.5 points was nearly 200 clear of Duquesne. Richmond, the champion of last year’s meet held after NCAAs in April, was third.

2022 Atlantic 10 Championships

Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 39                     
 
  1. George Washington University    701.5   2. Duquesne University               509
  3. University of Richmond            487   4. Fordham University              416.5
  5. Davidson College                  406   6. George Mason University         338.5
  7. University of Massachusetts       278   8. St Bonaventure University       190.5
  9. La Salle University               170  10. Saint Louis University            130
 11. University of Rhode Island         72

 Men's standings                     
 
  1. George Washington University    879.5   2. George Mason University           528
  3. St Bonaventure University         482   4. Davidson College                430.5
  5. University of Massachusetts     424.5   6. La Salle University               242
  7. Fordham University              235.5   8. Saint Louis University            230

Live Results
Full Results
Most Outstanding Swimmers: Shelby Stanley, Davidson and Marek Osina, George Washington
Most Outstanding Rookie Swimmers: Ali Tyler, George Mason and Connor Rodgers, George Washington
Most Outstanding Divers: Phoebe Shaya, La Salle and Zyad Morsy, St. Bonaventure

On the men’s side, GW went 5-for-5 on relays, starting with a conference record in the 200 medley. The foursome of Marek Osina, Tyler Kawakami, Djurdje Matic and Karol Mlynarczyk went 1:25.78 to slice .28 off the mark the Colonials had set in 2019. Matic and Kawakami swam on all but the 800 free relay. Osina and Mlynarczyk were part of three winning relays each.

Osina led the way for the Colonials all week. He won the 200 individual medley in 1:44.72, lowering his mark from last year by .46, then added gold in the 400 IM and 200 back.

George Washington, team champion at the 2022 Atlantic 10 Championships; Photo Courtesy: Atlantic 10 Athletics

Matic claimed the 50 free in 19.56 seconds, a conference record that downed the 19.84 set by Michael Pilyugin in 2016. Kawakami finished second in that event with Mlynarczyk fourth. Matic keyed a GW podium sweep in the 100 fly, re-setting the meet record to 45.79 (he holds the conference record .07 quicker). He was followed by teammates Ethan Tulenko and Dylan Koo. Matic completed his gold sweep with a time of 1:45.17 to win the 200 fly, another A-10 record.

The Colonials won all but four events in the meet, and it wasn’t until the penultimate event, the 200 breaststroke, that GW didn’t land a swimmer on the podium.

Connor Rodgers won the 500 free in 4:24.11; third in that event was Philip Mondovanu, who would go on to win the mile with DH Hwang second. Mylnarczyk won the 100 backstroke. Kawakami was second in the 50 free, 100 breast and 100 free. GW held its own in diving, with Spencer Bystrom second on 3-meter and third on 1-meter.

Davidson was the first to break the GW blockade when Ben McClain edged Josh Legge for the 200 free crown. McClain was also third in the 100 free.

The next event brought the first UMass win, with Jack Artis nipping Kawakami by .03 to the wall in the 100 breast. Artis would go on to best George Mason’s Thomas Chapman to gold in the 200 breast. The Patriots’ win came via Josh Fletcher, who sprinted to the wall first in the 100 free in 44.48. Will Rastatter (third in the 50 free) and Alexander Franklin (second in the 100 back) added medals for George Mason.

St. Bonaventure produced the diver of the meet in Zyad Morsy, who won both springboard events. George Kalletta (200 IM) and Maciej Danilewski (200 back) each netted silver medals for Bonnies.

Wilson DuBois of UMass was second in the 500 free. Zachary Wolbert medaled in the 200 IM and 400 IM (third) and 200 fly (second) for La Salle. The Explorers also had a pair of diving medalists, with Steven Stasolla second on 1-meter and Sam Henninger third on 3-meter.

On the women’s side of the 2022 Atlantic 10 Championships, George Washington was second in four relays and third in the other, sufficient to get the job done in the team standings. Erin McCarthy supplied both of the Colonials wins, taking the 500 free in a 1-2 finish with teammate Molly Smyers. Smyers was third in the 1,650, which McCarthy also won.

GW’s youth was an asset. Smyers is a freshman, as is Julia Knox, who finished second in the 200 IM and third in the 400 IM. Classmate Barbara Schaal finished second in the 200 back and third in the 100 fly and 100 back. (Both backstroke events featured four freshmen in the top five spots.) GW’s Marlee Rickert was second in the 100 back.

Shelby Stanley was the lone triple individual champ of the meet. The Davison junior took down the conference record the 200 IM in 1:57.89, lopping more than a second off Emma Brinton’s mark from 2019. She also set an A-10 mark in the 100 fly (52.94) and won the 200 fly to finish off the final day.

Duquesne’s runner-up finish was bolstered by a win in the 800 free relay. The squad of Mendy De Rooi, Hayley Taylor, Emma Menzer and Hannah Everhart downed the conference record with a time of 7:15.00. Everhart won the 200 free in 1:48.16, with Taylor fourth. (De Rooi was quicker in her leadoff leg at 1:47.81). De Rooi won the 100 free and was second in both the 50 free and 100 fly. Menzer finished second in the 400 IM.

Richmond won two relays without winning an individual event. The Spiders prevailed in the 200 medley relay and 200 free relay, with Abby Fuller and Lauren Medlin on both squads. Fuller finished third in the 50 free. Medlin was second in the 100 free. Purcell was third in the 200 free, and Claire O’Shaughnessy was the runner-up in the 200 fly.

George Mason’s stroke depth showed with its win the 400 medley relay in a conference record 3:37.99, downing a Richmond record that had stood since 2012. The Patriots also claimed the 400 free relay, a quartet that included three rookies.

Freshman Ali Tyler won the 100 back and 200 back along with the 50 free. Jacquee Clabeaux reclaimed the 100 breast title in 1:00.16, chipping .15 off her record from 2020 and exacting revenge on Rachel Kimmel, who beat her to gold last year. Clabeaux was also second in the 200 breast. Tyler, Clabeaux and Emma De Jong were on both winning relays.

The other meet record went to Fordham’s Ainhoa Martin, who clocked in at 4:13.27 in the 400 IM. (The conference record remains a supersuited 4:10.53 from 2009.) Martin had finished third in the 200 IM. Her Rams teammate Becky Kamau won the 200 breast and was third in the 200 breast.

St. Bonaventure’s Mandy Baird was the only double diving medalist, finishing third on both boards. Phoebe Shaya of La Salle won 1-meter. Annica Valmessei of Davidson claimed 3-meter gold.

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