The William and Mary men's swimming team won its season-opener for the ninth year in a row Saturday, beating Mary Washington solidly 205-56. The Tribe has now won four in a row and 51 overall at the Rec Center.
Complete ResultsLeadign the way for W&M was once again was senior
Andrew Strait (Richmond, Va.), who won both of his individual races to extend his winning streak to a career-best 13 in a row. Strait won the 100 back in 51.89 seconds, and also took the 500 free handily in 4:45.44. He was also the third leg on the 200 medley relay that started the meet with a win in 1:34.62, swimming alongside
Justin Barden (Gordonsville, Va.),
Chris Dong (Chapel Hill, N.C.), and freshman
Greg Rogers (Yardley, Pa.). Both Barden and Dong won individual races as well, Barden timing 1:57.53 in the 200 IM, and Dong cruising to a 58.66 victory in the 100 breast.
Other two-event champs included junior
Taegan Clarke (Chappaqua, N.Y.), who won the 100 free in 47.58 seconds, and came back to take part in the 400 free relay that won in 3:07.61. That team also included
Billy Russell (Newport News, Va.), who was the 50 free champion in 21.43 seconds, as well as freshmen
Alex Montes de Oca (Orange, Va.) and
Joe Eiden (White Plains, N.Y.).
Four more men won solo races, led off by senior
Tyler Poling (Morristown, N.J.). Poling swam the 1,000 free at the beginning of the meet, and was the first to touch with a time of 9:55.97. Redshirt-sophomore
Lukas Dempsey (New Paltz, N.Y.), racing for the first time since the spring of 2012, was a narrow second in the 200 free to UMW's national champion, but came back in the 200 back to swim a collegiate-best 1:54.49 and win by a large margin. Sophomore
Ryan Natal (Great Falls, Va.) took the 200 fly in 1:55.21, and classmate
Andrew Nyce (Vienna, Va.) proved the best in the 200 breast, stopping the clock in 2:07.41.
William and Mary is back in the pool next Saturday, Oct. 19, with a tri-meet in Washington, D.C. Georgetown are the hosts on the day, which will also see the Tribe take on Towson.
