UNC Wilmington Sweeps Patriot Invitational Titles

Patriot Invitational

• Results
• Team Scoring
• Men: UNC Wilmington 845; Drexel 640; George Mason 597; Seton Hall 540; Florida Atlantic 537; UMBC 481; American 118; Shippensburg (Pa.) 71
• Women: UNC Wilmington 731; Drexel 722; Florida Atlantic 681; Seton Hall 412.50; George Mason 406; Richmond 301; UMBC 296; American 295.50; Shippensburg 24
• Nov. 15-17, 2018
• Fairfax, Virginia

Courtesy: UNC Wilmington Athletics

FAIRFAX, Va. – UNCW’s women’s team defended its Patriot Invitational title for the fourth straight season as the Seahawks rallied in the 400 Freestyle Relay for the win and give the Seahawks a sweep of the meet as the men rolled to an impressive win on Saturday at the McKay Natatorium.

Trailing Colonial Athletic Association rival Drexel by nine points entering the final event, the relay of Evan Arsenault, Annie Shirk, Meghan Lahr and Faith Pilcher swam a winning time of 3:25.65. But it was the relay of Shannon Howell, Kyra Schemmel, Meagan Johnson and Vivian Louviere that provided the winning margin with a sixth-place showing as Drexel finished third and 10th.

While the women, who overcame a 20-point deficit entering Saturday, earned their fourth consecutive meet championship, the men’s team won the meet for the first time since 2012. The Seahawks dominated the meet, leading from wire-to-wire, and posting a 205-point win over Drexel.

Arsenault and Johnson helped the Seahawks erase that early deficit by winning the 100 Free (50.18 seconds) and 200 Breaststroke, respectively.

Josh Rigsbee delivered a win in the 200 Breaststroke (2:01.55) to highlight the men’s performances on Saturday.

Jack Cosgrove, Will Countie, Brandon Cu and Sean Cannon combined to win the 400 Free Relay with a meet record time of 3:00.76.

Next up for the Seahawks, who swam their final team competition of the semester, will be the USA Swimming Nationals in Greensboro, N.C., on Nov. 28 – Dec. 1.

Courtesy: Drexel Athletics

FAIRFAX, Va. – The Drexel men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams earned a second-place finish at the 2018 Patriot Invitational on Sunday. The women’s team finished with a score of 722 while the men’s team scored 640. UNCW earned first for both the men and women with scores of 731 and 845, respectively.

Jordan Washart and Olivia Shaffer started out finals with eighth and ninth place finishes in the 1650-yard freestyle. Washart clocked in at 17:31.67 while Shaffer followed close behind with a time of 17:32.75. Dora Gercsak finished 15th in the event with a time of 17:44.45 while Niki Fistrovic earned 16th place, finishing at 17:52.58. Patrick Cobb took fourth place in the event for the men (15:55.75). Dane Bell (16:26.88), Joseph Brown (16:37.41) and Luke Hanner (16:49.30) finished in 12th, 17th and 21st, respectively.

Alexa Kutch won A-finals in the 200-yard backstroke at 1:56.65 while Alicia Diaz placed second in 2:00.23. Jason Arthur also won A-finals with a time of 1:45.54 and Spencer Hill won C-finals in 1:53.65. Greg Buckley (1:54.65) placed third in the C-finals and Alberto Lagrutta (1:55.01) placed fifth. Dane also swam in C-finals, coming in seventh with a time of 1:55.83.

Kutch also swam in the 100-yard freestyle B-finals, finishing in eight at 53:16. Courtney Levins placed fourth in C-finals (52.89) and Natalie Gundling placed seventh (53.24). On the men’s team, Stathis Malamas (45.28) earned a fourth place finish in A-finals and David Kneiss (46.43), Alex Flynn (46.94) and John Scully (47.41) rounded out  the last three spots of B-final. Luke Hanner finished seventh in C-finals with a time of 47.65.

Gabrielle Rudy claimed the third spot in the 200-yard breaststroke A-finals with a time of 2:20.23. Rebecca Churchill (2:21.31) and Corinne McCurley (2:24.89) won the B-finals and C-finals, respectively. Ralph Cannarozzi III finished third in A-finals with a time of 2:02.78 while Zachary Valenzuela (2:05.04) and Joseph Brown (2:05.99) earned seventh and eighth place. Harrison Schultz (2:07.70) finished in fourth in the B-finals.

April Forsthoffer claimed a second-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly relays, clocking in at 2:03.05 while Charlotte Myers took fifth in 2:05.43. Washart finished second in B-finals with a time of 2:07.36. Paris Raptis (1:48.58) won the event for the men, John Klein (1:52.23) placed second in B-finals and Joe Short (1:57.42) finished eighth in C-finals.

The squad made up of Rudy, Kutch, Levins and Diaz took third in the 400-yard freestyle with a time of 3:28.76 while the team of Gundling, Perni, Forsthoffer and Myers finished in 10th at 3:32.51. The men’s team of Malamas, Kiran Richardson, Kneiss and Arthur finished in third (3:02.22) while Flynn, John Scully, Cobb and Raptis earned ninth (3:07.79).

Drexel will compete at the AT&T Winter National Championships in Greensboro, N.C. from Wednesday, Nov 28. Through Saturday, Dec. 1 to close out the 2018 portion of the schedule.

Courtesy: George Mason Athletics

FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason swimming and diving teams completed the annual Patriot Invitational on senior day, with the men’s team finishing third and the women’s team placing fifth in the three-day event held at the Jim McKay Natatorium.

On the women’s side, all nine teams finished in the exact same order as the 2017 Patriot Invitational.

UNC-Wilmington won the meet with 731 points, Drexel was second with 722 points and Florida Atlantic was third with 681 points, followed by Seton Hall (412.5), Mason (406), Richmond (301), UMBC (296), American (295.5) and Shippensburg (24).

Mason freshman Megan Cummins began the night with a fourth-place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle (17:03.11).

Senior Marla Albanese made the podium with a third-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle (51.60), while freshman Chloe Fite placed eighth (53.10).  Senior Brittany Murphy placed 11th in the event (52.50).

Senior Christina McLemore finished seventh in the 200-yard butterfly (2:06.82).  Freshman Annie McNenny was 11th (2:07.96) and classmate Hannah Milikich placed 18th in the event (2:10.13).

Theresa Cotter won the B-Final of the 200-yard backstroke (2:04.35).

Sophomore Shannon Glesing placed seventh in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:23.78).  Freshman Sophie McKinley was 18th (2:25.09) and sophomore Lexi Osleger was 21st (2:27.85) in the event.

The combination of seniors Marla Albanese, Theresa Cotter and Brittany Murphy along with freshman Chloe Fite finished seventh in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:30.89).

On the men’s side, UNCW won the meet with 845 points, Drexel was second with 640 points and Mason finished third with 597 points, followed by Seton Hall (540), Florida Atlantic (537), UMBC (481), American (118) and Shippensburg (71).

Mason junior Attila Kiss finished eighth in the 1,650-yard freestyle (16:13.75).

Senior Michael Pettinichi just missed the podium with a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:03.03).  Junior Christopher Stankiewicz won the B-Final of the event (2:04.46), while freshman Carson Stevens finished 16th (2:09.91).  Sophomore Wallace Watkins was first in the C-Final (2:04.07).

Sophomore Dylan Peck placed fourth in the 200-yard butterfly (1:50.83), while classmate Andres Alarcon was 15th (1:53.67) in the event.

Junior Ryan Donnelly recorded a seventh-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke (1:51.54) and classmate Logan Eubanks took first in the B-Final (1:50.10).

In the 100-yard freestyle, sophomore Drake Moretz finished eighth (46.61), freshman Jacob Miller placed 12th (46.19) and freshman Nick Ashton was 13th (46.29).

The team of Ashton, Peck, Moretz and Miller touched the wall second in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:01.99).  UNCW won the event and set a new pool record in the process (3:00.76).

The Mason seniors were honored before the meet. Marla Albanese, Nicholas Burton, Theresa Cotter, Christina McLemore, Brittany Murphy, Sidney Owens, Michael Pettinichi and Leo Rivoal took to the pool in the Patriot Invitational one final time.

The Patriots are back in action Nov. 28 through Dec. 1 at the Winter Nationals in Greensboro, N.C.

Courtesy: Florida Atlantic Athletics

FAIRFAX, Va. – Florida Atlantic University swimming and diving wrapped up the third and final day of competition Saturday at the Patriot Invitational hosted by George Mason University. The Owls racked up nine first-place, seven second-place and five third-place victories over the past three days.

As a team, the Owl women claimed third place after putting up 681 points. UNCW led the women with 731 points and Drexel followed in second with 722 points. On the men’s side, the Owls finished fifth with 537 points behind UNCW (845), Drexel (640), George Mason (597) and Seton Hall (540).

Notables:
Day 1
Women

• Spence Atkins claimed the first individual finals win for the Owls, which came in the 500-yard freestyle (4:39.35) with Natalie Clausen following in second (4:54.33)
• Danica Garbett delivered her fastest time in the 200-yard IM finals, touching the wall first with a time of 2:03.15
• Fatimah Westbrook claimed another top individual finish to add to her résumé in the 50-yard freestyle (23.59) with third place.
• Malvina Catalano came up with her first individual win of the season, which came in the 3-meter dive (265.80), where Kaleigh Dundov captured fifth (221.80)
• The Owl women finished things up in the pool on day one with a third-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay with Westbrook, Atkins, Abby Marshall and Kelsey Witkay finishing with a time of 3:48.53

Men

• Josh Fountain captured a first-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle finals (4:29.80) and Will Smith followed in third (4:32.70)
• In the 1-meter finals, Logan Downey scored his way to a first-place title (319.70) and NCAA zone qualification with Schmidt finishing behind him in second (296.05)

Day 2
Women

• Garbett tallied her second first-place title this weekend with her 4:22.64 finish in the 400-yard IM, while Clausen claimed second (4:25.98)
• In the 200-yard freestyle, Atkins captured second, finishing with a time of 1:51.58
• Westbrook secured second place in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:03.24 and Victoria Ellwood followed her in fourth (1:04.11)
• Marshall finished fifth in the 100-yard back with a time of 56.71
  On the boards, Catalano swept in both diving events over the weekend after taking first place in the 1-meter dive (276.45)

Men

• Calvin Lillo captured eighth in the 400-yard IM for the Owl men with a time of 4:06.57
• The 200-yard freestyle ended with Connor Smoak finishing in third (1:41.01) and Colin Kozak following in fourth (1:41.36)
• Phillip Crouch III claimed fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke (56.10)
• In the 100-yard backstroke, Braedan Leach finished fifth (50.31), Alex Taber came in sixth (51.31) and Reilly Maguire captured seventh (52.12)
• On the 3-meters, Downey (311.80) and Schmidt (308.85) finished one and two, respectively for the second time over the weekend

Day 3
Women

• Atkins started off day three of finals claiming the first-place title in the 1650-yard freestyle (16:34.47) with Clausen following her in second (16:48.53) and Madison Rizzo in seventh (17:28.58)
• Marshall completed a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard back with a personal-best time of 2:01.87
• In the 100-yard freestyle, Westbrook finished fifth (52.03) and Sarah Martin came in seventh (52.42)
• Ellwood captured fourth in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:21.46),
• Ana Neff-Jendrasko tallied fifth (2:21.93) and Haley O’Meara touched the wall in sixth (2:22.05)
• Atkins claimed another first-place finish after her 1:59.84 time in the 200-yard butterfly with Garbett following her in third (2:03.23)

Men

• Fountain got things going for the men with a first-place finish in the 1650-yard freestyle (15:31.55) with Smith following behind him in second (15:38.45) and Jack Shapiro in ninth (16:19.83)
• In the 200-yard backstroke, Leach (1:49.86) and Taber (1:50.52) finished fourth and fifth, respectively
• Smoak touched the wall sixth in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 45.94