The William & Mary men's swimming team has the potential to score a lot of points tonight in the finals of the Northwestern TYR Invitational, advancing 21 athletes on the first day across five events with at least two scorers in every event.  The host Wildcats lead the way in the preliminary scoring with 152 points after five prelims events, while Michigan State (109 points) is just barely in front of the Tribe (106 points).

50 Breast
- Leading things off in the 50 breast was senior Brooks Peterson (Carrollton, Va.), who stopped the clock in 26.15 seconds for seventh overall.
- Freshmen Ryan Bebel (Westfield, N.J.) and Ian Cobb (Vienna, Va.) both advanced to the B finals, swimming 26.81 and 26.96 seconds for 13th and 16th, respectively.
 

Place	Athlete	Time
7.	Brooks Peterson	26.15	A Finals
13.	Ryan Bebel	26.81	B Finals
16.	Ian Cobb	26.96	B Finals

500 Free
- Junior Chris Balbo (Short Hills, N.J.) continued to make waves as he has all season long, finishing third overall in the prelims of the 500 free in 4:29.62.  That's just a quarter-second off of his lifetime-best.
- Joining Balbo in the A finals will be senior Carter Kale (Williamsburg, Va.), who took eighth in 4:32.82.
- Two men qualified for the B final, with junior Ian Bidwell (Pelham, N.Y.) finishing 10th in 4:34.94 and senior Eric Grimes (Louisville, Ky.) taking 12th in 4:35.23.
 

Place	Athlete	Time
3.	Chris Balbo	4:29.62	A Finals
8.	Carter Kale	4:32.82	A Finals
10.	Ian Bidwell	4:34.94	B Finals
12.	Eric Grimes	4:35.23	B Finals
25.	James Mostofi	4:43.24	First alternate
28.	Christopher Pfuhl	4:47.61

50 Back
- In the rare 50 back, junior Colin Demers (Virginia Beach, Va.) swam 23.09 to reach the A finals in sixth place, where he'll be joined by classmate Ian Thompson (Alexandria, Va.), who touched the wall in 23.13 seconds for eighth place.
- Freshman Graham Hertweck (Greensboro, N.C.) was 23rd overall to make the C finals heat, stopping the clock in 24.16 seconds.
 

Place	Athlete	Time
6.	Colin Demers	23.09	A Finals
8.	Ian Thompson	23.13	A Finals
23.	Graham Hertweck	24.16	C Finals

200 IM
- The first of W&M's two top seeds came in the 200 IM, where junior Ben Skopic (Mariottsville, Md.) swam 1:49.87 to claim top honors in tonight's championship final.  He'll be joined in that heat by freshman Steven Thalblum (Ashburn, Va.), who swam 1:51.27 for fifth place.
- Sophomore Jake Kealy (Wilton, Conn.) will represent the Tribe in the consolation finals, after stopping the clock in 1:53.59 for 11th place.
- W&M will have two more in the bonus finals, as junior Lee Bradley (Crestwood, Ky.) took 19th overall in 1:54.61 and freshman Kade Younger (Newport News, Va.) came 24th in a time of 1:55.46.
 

Place	Athlete	Time
1.	Ben Skopic	1:49.87	A Finals
5.	Steven Thalblum	1:51.27	A Finals
11.	Jake Kealy	1:53.59	B Finals
19.	Lee Bradley	1:54.61	C Finals
24.	Kade Younger	1:55.46	C Finals
27.	Ryan Bebel	1:56.21
29.	Philip Barto	1:56.62
44.	Brooks Peterson	2:01.23
46.	Ian Cobb	2:02.93
47.	Colin Demers	2:05.72

50 Free
- W&M had six more qualifiers in the 50 free, including another top seed in junior Colin Wright (Williamsburg, Va.).  Wright had the morning's top swim at 20.01, the eighth-fastest time in school history.  He'll be joined in the championship heat tonight by Thompson, who was 20.65 for fourth place.
- Junior Jack Doherty (Middletown, Conn.) touched the wall in 20.86 seconds for 10th overall and a spot in the B finals alongside redshirt-senior Evan Baker (Chantilly, Va.), who swam 20.99 seconds for 15th place.
- Making the C finals were a pair of double-finalists on the day, with Hertweck swimming 21.10 for 19th place, and Grimes coming in 22nd overall at 21.17 seconds.
 

Place	Athlete	Time
1.	Colin Wright	20.01	A Finals, #8 performance
4.	Ian Thompson	20.65	A Finals
10.	Jack Doherty	20.86	B Finals
15.	Evan Baker	20.99	B Finals
19.	Graham Hertweck	21.10	C Finals
22.	Eric Grimes	21.17	C Finals
31.	Aristides Speres	21.48
34.	Ramzy Ali	21.56
34.	Ian Bidwell	21.56
46.	Joey Rento	21.75
50.	Christopher Pfuhl	21.84

Finals in all five events, as well as the one-meter diving, 200 free relay, and the 400 medley relay, begin tonight at 5 p.m. Central, 6 p.m. Eastern.

2018 Northwestern TYR Invitational
Women's Team Scoring
1. Northwestern 152
2. Michigan State 109
3. William & Mary 106
4. Saint Louis 52
5. Truman State 36
6. Illinois-Chicago 24