American, Lafayette, Navy vs. Bucknell

LEWISBURG, Pennsylvania, November 6. THE Navy swimming and diving teams combined to win 26 events on the day as both programs recorded victories over American, Bucknell and Lafayette Saturday afternoon at Kinney Natatorium in Lewisburg, Pa.

The Navy women's team improved its record to 7-0 on the season with its victories over the Eagles (208-72), Bison (154-144) and Leopards (201-91). Meanwhile, the Navy men's squad now has a record of 6-1 this year thanks to its wins today over American (199-86), Bucknell (186-10) and Lafayette (198-91).

The host Bison started the meet off strong in the women's competition. Bucknell won each of the first three events contested on the day – the 200y medley relay (where Navy's top team was disqualified for an early start by one of its swimmers), 1000y freestyle and 200y freestyle events. Navy athletes would place second in each of those three events, but the Bison still jumped out to a 36-19 lead over the Mids.

Navy's first win of the day took place in the fourth event as Olivia Kosaka (Fr., Burien, Wash.) won the 100y backstroke in a time of 57.82. Equally important was the fact the Navy swimmers also placed third and fourth in the event. Kosaka's effort in the 100 back was followed by Colleen Randolph (Fr., Annapolis, Md.) and Tessa Snow (Sr., Hamlin, N.Y.) placing first (1:06.75) and second (1:07.10), respectively, in the 100y breaststroke. The Mids made it three wins in as many events when Toni Paruso (So., Savannah, Ga.) led a 1-2-3 Navy finish in the 200y fly. Paruso tallied a winning time of 2:02.02, which was followed by Rheanna Vaughn (Fr., Aliso Viejo, Calif.) finishing in second place (2:06.13) and Gina Grabowski (Fr., Lawrenceville, N.J.) placing third (2:09.14). Those results allowed Navy to build a 63-49 lead over Bucknell.

"The 100 backstroke really started to turn things around for us," said Navy women's swimming head coach John Morrison. "Olivia had a great race to win the event, then Colleen and Tessa came through in the 200 breast and that was followed by a very important sweep in the 200 fly."
From that point on, the Mids would win eight of the remaining 10 events during the meet. Kellie Darmody's (So., Charlotte, N.C.) time of 2:06.91 led another 1-2-3 Navy finish in the 200y backstroke, which was followed by Laura Gorinski (So., Greensburg, Pa.) winning the 200y breaststroke in a time of 2:16.88. Vaughn then picked up the win in the 500y free (5:03.88), with Paruso and Gorinski quickly earning additional victories in the 100y fly (55.09) and 200y individual medley (2:07.27) events, respectively.

Additionally, Navy swept the two diving boards during the meet. Jordyn Nicholl (So., Acworth, Ga.) posted a score of 233.65 to win the one-meter event, while Courtney Vandament (Jr., Coppell, Texas) accrued 264.40 points to win the three meter.

Navy closed out the meet by placing first and second in the 200y freestyle relay.

"It was nice to see us bounce back from the problems in the first relay event," said Morrison. "Obstacles like that are things you need to be able to overcome, and today we refocused after that disappointment and were able to do so. Toni and Laura had really good meets, and it was great to see our divers perform as well as they did today. They gave us a big lift."

Whereas the Navy women's team had to overcome an early deficit, the Navy men's team quickly took control of the meet. After the Mids placed both first and second in the 200y medley relay, John Ojard (So., Ellicott City, Md.) led a 1-2-3-4 finish for the Mids in the 1000y freestyle with his winning time of 9:33.98. Bucknell's Matt Segar edged Navy's Erik Hunter (Sr., Placerville, Calif.) for the win in the 200y freestyle (1:42.20-1:42.85), but from there on out Navy would win each of the remaining events on the day.

Mac Anthony (Jr., Allentown, Pa.) started the 13-event winning streak for the Mids with his winning time of 50.96 in the 100y backstroke. Next, Andrew Feeney (So., Norcross, Ga.) led a 1-2-3 finish for the Mids in the 100y breaststroke with his time of 58.72, which was followed by Mark Meyer (Jr., Bethesda, Md.) winning the 200y butterfly in a clocking of 1:05.54. Placing second through fourth in the race were teammates Steve Dukleth (Jr., Glen Ellyn, Ill.), Benjamin Bondurant (So., Atlanta, Ga.) and Patrick Veltman (Sr., Midlothian, Va.), respectively.

Zach Ingold (Fr., Hornell, N.Y.) swept the two sprint freestyle events for the Mids. His time of 21.11 won him the 50y freestyle, then posted a time of 45.95 to win the 100y free. Anthony would join Ingold as a double-event winner when he claimed the 200y backstroke in a time of 1:50.14. That was followed by Pete Donahue (Sr., Washington, D.C.) winning the 200y breast (2:06.62), Hunter winning the 500y free (4:33.84) and Meyer posting a win in the 100y fly (50.18).

Just as occurred in the women's meet, Navy had two different divers win the two diving events. Hayden Jones (Fr., Spring, Texas) won the one-meter event with a score of 360.25, while Olaf Olson (Sr., Bainbridge Island, Wash.) totaled 393.30 points to win the three-meter competition.

The final individual event of the meet saw Veltman win the 200y individual medley race in a time of 1:54.60. That was followed by Navy edging Bucknell by eight-hundredth of a second for the win in the 200y freestyle relay (1:25.59).

"We had a number of good performances today," said Navy men's swimming head coach Bill Roberts. "Zach picking up first collegiate victories in the sprint freestyle races and an exceptional day by our divers were just a few worth mentioning. Great job to John Morrison and the entire women's team for a really good day, too.

"Also, a very strong effort by Bucknell today. One of their recent swimmers passed away over the last few days. The team was competing with a heavy heart, but they performed admirably."

Both Navy teams will next be in action Nov. 18-20 at the Nike Cup that is being hosted by North Carolina.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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