NEW ENGLAND SMALL COLLEGE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (NESCAC) – MEN
- Dates: Thursday, February 20-Sunday, February 23, 2020
- Location/Host: Middlebury College – Middlebury, VT
- Defending Champion: Williams
- Live Results: Available here
- Live Video: Available here
- Championship Central
Courtesy: New England Small College Athletic Conference
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Williams won six events on Day 2 of the NESCAC Men’s Swimming & Diving Championship to extend its lead to 83 points over Tufts on the team leaderboard. The Ephs finished the second day with 832.5 points. Tufts stands in second place with 749.5 points, while Amherst (602 pts.), Bates (419 pts.), and Colby (410 pts.) round out the top five teams.
The Tufts 200 freestyle relay team kicked off the night by breaking its own NESCAC and NESCAC Meet record it set last year. Three members of last year’s relay returned to the pool this season as seniors Costa Camerano and Roger Gu, along with junior JJ Batt and first-year Peter Labarge combined for a time of 1:20.35, which was also a Williams pool record.
The Ephs rattled off five straight wins over the next five events, starting with the 50 breaststroke where first-year Liam Sullivan touched the wall in a winning time of 24.96 for the first NESCAC title of his career. Amherst senior Sean Mebust, the defending champion in the event, placed third (25.36) and senior Matthew Manfre of Tufts was the runner-up (25.34).
Williams junior David Pearcy added a win in the 50 butterfly with a time of 22.00. Amherst senior Jack Koravos, last year’s NESCAC Champion, and Williams first-year Ev Nichol tied for second with a time of 22.36.
The Ephs swept the 500 freestyle for the second consecutive year. Junior Jamie Lovette won the event for the third year in a row with a pool-record time of 4:29.27. Teammates Jackson Karofsky and Andrew Trunsky finished 2-3 for the second straight year, posting times of 4:32.29 and 4:32.95, respectively. All three swimmers achieved NCAA B-cut times.
Sophomores dominated the 50 backstroke, led by Nick Whitcomb of Williams, a third-place finisher in 2019, who reached the wall in a winning time of 22.60. Bowdoin’s Ted Mebut was the runner-up for the second year in a row (22.63), and Nate Tingen of Tufts (22.85) finished third.
The Williams trio of first-year Jacob Grover, sophomore Paul Leclerc, and senior Lucca Delcompare finished 1-2-3 as the Ephs swept the 200 IM. Grover earned the first NESCAC title of his career with an NCAA B-cut time of 1:50.65. Leclerc improved on his third-place finish in 2019 with a time of 1:51.85 to finish second, and Delcompare touched the wall at 1:52.16 to place third.
Tufts senior Roger Gu snapped the Ephs’ streak by winning the 50 freestyle race for the third straight season. In the morning prelims he broke his own NESCAC Meet record and set a pool record with a time of 19.78. In the finals, Gu posted a winning time of 19.96 while Amherst sophomore Scott Romeyn repeated as the NESCAC Runner-Up with a time of 20.22. Tufts first-year Peter LaBarge was third (20.40) and all three times were NCAA B-cut marks.
In the 1-meter diving event, Amherst took the first two spots, while Williams was third. Senior Bennett Fagan, last year’s NESCAC Runner-Up, scored 497.50 points to win the event and was followed by teammate Tom Amsbry (459.95). First-year Kobe Tray of Williams, finished third with 431.55 points and all three divers achieved NCAA B-cut marks.
In the final event of the night, the 400 medley relay, the Ephs team of Leclerc, Sullivan, Pearcy, and Lovette combined for a time of 3:15.36, setting NESCAC Meet and Williams pool records, to win the race. Amherst was second at 3:17.45 and Tufts followed in third place (3:17.90). All three relays earned NCAA B-cut times.
Day three begins with swim prelims at 10 a.m., followed by diving prelims at 2 p.m., and the evening session is scheduled to start at 5:50 p.m. with the annual Senior Ceremony.
TEAM STANDINGS
1. Williams — 832.5 points
2. Tufts — 749.5 points
2. Amherst — 602 points
4. Bates — 419 points
5. Colby — 410 points
6. Bowdoin — 363 points
7. Middlebury — 285.5 points
8. Connecticut College — 263.5 points
9. Hamilton — 201 points
10. Trinity — 195 points
11. Wesleyan — 134 points