Patriot Invitational, Day Two

FAIRFAX, Virginia. November 22. THE second day of competition at the Patriot Invitational completed, George Mason's swimming and diving team continued to rewrite the record books as the Patriots positioned themselves well for the tournament crown. With one day remaining, the Mason women are in second place while the men currently stand in third place.

Freshman Ashley Danner once again highlighted the Mason effort with her record-shattering performance in the 400-yard individual medley. Her winning time of 4:15.65 was good for first place and an NCAA B-cut while setting new pool, meet, school, and Colonial Athletic Association records in the event.

Danner added another meet record to her total after swimming a 1:50.59 leg of the first-place 800-yard freestyle relay, breaking a meet record for the 200-yard freestyle. Additionally, she, along with freshman Nicole Harmon, junior Caitlin Impink, and senior Mary Beth Cheslock, set a new meet record in the 200-yard medley relay when they won the event in 1:45.75.

Mason captured a number of event victories to help position itself for a chance at the tournament crown. A total of seven wins highlighted the day, five coming on the women's side and two on the men's side.

For the Patriot men, freshmen Preston Wolter and Derrick Butts earned first place in the 400-yard individual medley and 3-meter dive, respectively. Walter shaved over 10 seconds off his preliminary time as he touched the wall in 3:58.45 to win the event. Meanwhile, Butts, who set a school record with his preliminary score of 366.85, took home the gold with a 320.05 score in the final round.

Butts was joined by four other Patriots in the final round, as freshman Bryan Bahr (2nd, 311.35), junior Ryan Metzker (3rd, 296.70), junior Justin Mallette (4th, 273.15) and freshman Alexander Graf (8th, 186.25) all aided the Mason cause.

On the women's side, in addition to the other successes, freshman Nicole Harmon took the 100-yard backstroke title with a time of 57.59, while junior Claire Weems won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:51.94. The 800-yard freestyle relay, which won in 7:36.08, consisted of Danner, sophomore Jenny Kane, Weems, and Impink.

From the diving board, the Patriot women positioned themselves well for a high-scoring final round in the 3-meter dive, as all four Mason competitors advanced to the finals. Freshman Kristen Meier led the way with the top score of 292.50, and she was joined by sophomore Lisa Faulkner (2nd, 287.10), junior Charlotte Edwards (4th, 233.00) and freshman Ali-Marie Murphy (8th, 191.70).

UMBC leads on both the men's and women's sides of the scoreboard, with 816 and 558 points respectively.

Special thanks to George Mason for contributing this report.

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