The William & Mary men's swimming team split its two road contests Saturday afternoon, beating Gardner-Webb 213-49 but falling in a nail-biter with host East Carolina, 132-130.  The Tribe moves its record to 2-1 overall, while ECU improved to 2-1 and Gardner-Webb fell to 0-2.

The Tribe had a number of strong performances on the day, including from sophomore Chris Balbo (Short Hills, N.J.) who won five of his six races.  He began his afternoon with a sweep in the 400 IM at 4:00.42, then came back in the 200 fly to sweep again in 1:51.06, breaking the Tribe dual-meet record of 1:51.40 set by Sean Higgins '17 last year.  Balbo's final appearance of the day came in the 200 breast, where he finished third overall and won the event against Gardner-Webb in 2:09.03.

Fellow sophomore Colin Wright (Williamsburg, Va.) also swept a pair of events, beating all-comers in the 50 free (20.75) and the 100 free (46.22) to keep his unbeaten streak alive at 6-0 this year.  Wright also provided the anchoring touch on both relays, including the 400 free relay that swept both opponents with another Tribe dual-meet record of 3:03.45.  Also on that relay was senior Kyle Neri (Wallingford, Conn.), junior Eric Grimes (Louisville, Ky.), and sophomore Jack Doherty (Middletown, Conn.).  At the start of the meet, Doherty also joined Wright on the 200 medley relay alongside Wyatt Grubb (Mechanicsville, Va.) and Devin McNulty (Herndon, Va.), finishing second to ECU and beating Gardner-Webb with a time of 1:32.59.

The senior Grubb got a sweep of his own in the 100 back, touching the wall in 51.37 to beat all opponents.  Also winning against both teams was junior Carter Kale (Williamsburg, Va.), 4:38.64 in the 500 free, as well as sophomore Ben Skopic (Marriottsville, Md.), who went 1:53.42 to sweep the 200 IM.  Individual winners against Gardner-Webb also included Doherty, 50.46 in the 100 fly, McNulty with a 58.13 showing in the 100 breast, and Grimes stopping the clock in 1:43.31 in the 200 free.  Freshman Jake Kealy (Wilton, Conn.) rounded out the victors, claiming the 200 back in 1:51.60.

Event Winners

ECU vs W&M	Event	W&M vs G-W
1. ECU 1:32.19 (Tristan Taylor, Jacek Arentewicz, Gus Santos, Gavin Erdmann) 2. W&M 1:32.59 (Wyatt Grubb, Devin McNulty, Jack Doherty, Colin Wright)	200 Medley Relay	1. W&M 1:32.59 (Wyatt Grubb, Devin McNulty, Jack Doherty, Colin Wright) 2. W&M 1:35.18 (Colin Demers, Brooks Peterson, Tommy Kealy, Kyle Neri)
1. Chris Balbo (W&M) 4:00.42 2. Ben Skopic (W&M) 4:04.49	400 IM	1. Chris Balbo (W&M) 4:00.42 2. Ben Skopic (W&M) 4:04.49
1. John Myhre (ECU) 1:42.85 2. Eric Grimes (W&M) 1:43.31	200 Free	1. Eric Grimes (W&M) 1:43.31 2. Carter Kale (W&M) 1:44.45
1. Wyatt Grubb (W&M) 51.37 2. Jake Kealy (W&M) 51.70	100 Back	1. Wyatt Grubb (W&M) 51.37 2. Jake Kealy (W&M) 51.70
1. Jacek Arentewicz (ECU) 56.18 2. Josh Parmenter (ECU) 57.35	100 Breast	1. Devin McNulty (W&M) 58.13 2. Jordan Mintz (GW) 58.96
1. Chris Balbo (W&M) 1:51.06 2. Gus Santos (ECU) 1:54.05	200 Fly	1. Chris Balbo (W&M) 1:51.06 2. Joey Rento (W&M) 1:56.51
1. Colin Wright (W&M) 20.75 2. Jack Doherty (W&M) 21.06	50 Free	1. Colin Wright (W&M) 20.75 2. Jack Doherty (W&M) 21.06
1. Colin Wright (W&M) 46.22 2. Victor Martins Dos Santos (ECU) 46.47	100 Free	1. Colin Wright (W&M) 46.22 2. Kyle Neri (W&M) 47.64
1. Boleck De Pawlikowski (ECU) 1:51.45 2. Jake Kealy (W&M) 1:51.60	200 Back	1. Jake Kealy (W&M) 1:51.60 2. Philip Barto (W&M) 1:53.90
1. Josh Parmenter (ECU) 2:05.41 2. Jacek Arentewicz (ECU) 2:05.46	200 Breast	1. Chris Balbo (W&M) 2:09.03 2. Ben Skopic (W&M) 2:11.31
1. Carter Kale (W&M) 4:38.64 2. Grega Popvic (ECU) 4:41.14	500 Free	1. Carter Kale (W&M) 4:38.64 2. Eric Grimes (W&M) 4:42.38
1. Gus Santos (ECU) 49.46 2. Victor Martins Dos Santos (ECU) 50.40	100 Fly	1. Jack Doherty (W&M) 50.46 2. Tommy Kealy (W&M) 51.64
1. Ben Skopic (W&M) 1:53.42 2. Magnus Andersen (ECU) 1:55.03	200 IM	1. Ben Skopic (W&M) 1:53.42 2. Jake Kealy (W&M) 1:55.74
1. W&M 3:03.45 (Kyle Neri, Eric Grimes, Jack Doherty, Colin Wright) 2. ECU 3:04.57 (Victor Martins Dos Santos, Gavin Erdmann, John Myhre, Blaz Demsar)	400 Free Relay	1. W&M 3:03.45 (Kyle Neri, Eric Grimes, Jack Doherty, Colin Wright) 2. W&M 3:12.97 (Aristides Speres, Brien Collier, Christopher Pfuhl, Lee Bradley)

Notes
The two-point loss to ECU was the closest for W&M against any opponent since 2000, another two-point loss to the Pirates ... Balbo now owns four of the Tribe's dual-meet records, having set the 500 free, 1000 free, and 1650 free last year in addition to today's mark in the 200 fly.

Up Next
William & Mary has next weekend off for Homecoming, but will open the Colonial Athletic Association schedule against Towson at home on Oct. 28 at 1 p.m.