The William & Mary men's and women's swimming teams will bring the fall season (mostly) to a close this weekend, heading up into the mountains for the West Virginia Invitational. Taking place in the Mountaineer's brand-new natatorium, the three-day meet will run Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 21-23, with prelims at 10 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m. each day. The meet can be followed via live results either online at TribeAthletics.com, or on the Meet Mobile app.
Live Results
Scouting the Tribe Men
W&M's men's team is 5-1 (3-0 CAA) on the season after defeating VMI last week on the road. Senior
Chris Balbo (Short Hills, N.J.) took over the team lead with 13 wins and 125.5 points, winning both of his races against the Keydets, while his classmate
Colin Wright (Williamsburg, Va.) has 111.5 points and nine wins.
Scouting the Tribe Women
W&M also beat VMI on the women's side, winning its third in a row to stand 3-4 (2-2 CAA) at the end of the fall dual meet season. Junior
Megan Bull (Hillsborough, N.J.) has the lead in scoring with 131 points and nine wins, while sophomore
Missy Cundiff (Leesburg, Va.) is close behind with 117.25 points and seven wins.
Scouting the Opponents
Joining W&M in Morgantown will be eight other programs. Host West Virginia, Villanova, Old Dominion, Kenyon, and Carnegie Mellon will be both swimming and diving; while Navy, Massachusetts (women), and St. Bonaventure will have divers only. Kenyon is a legendary program in swimming & diving, winning an NCAA-record (for any sport) 34 national championships in Division III men's swimming, including 31 in a row from 1980-2011. On the women's side, Kenyon has won 23 national championships.
Meet Schedule
The West Virginia Invitational will have prelims beginning each day at 10 a.m., and finals beginning at 6 p.m. Relays will only be swum in finals, as will the 1,650 free on Saturday. Scoring will be done to 24-places, with only two relays from each school scoring. Individual athletes will be able to swim in up to five individual events, as well as every relay if they would like.
Thursday, Nov. 21
200 free relay, 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, 400 medley relay, Platform Diving
Friday, Nov. 22
200 medley relay, 100 fly, 400 IM, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, 800 free relay, Men's 1-Meter Diving, Women's 3-Meter Diving
Saturday, Nov. 23
1,650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, 400 free relay, Women's 1-Meter Diving, Men's 3-Meter Diving
W&M holds the top seed time in six events this weekend, including the men's 200 and 800 free relays. Individually, Cundiff is the top entry in the women's 50 free; while Wright is top-seed in both the men's 50 and 200 free, and Balbo has top billing in the men's 400 IM.
News and Notes
- This weekend is just the second time in school history that W&M will hit the water in the state of West Virginia. The only previous time was Feb. 10, 1968, when the Tribe men's team fell to the Mountaineers 77-27 in a dual meet.
Bob Henderson '69 had W&M's lone win on the day, in the diving event, while
George Collins '70,
Keith Maurer '68, and
Wayne Giberson '70 all had a pair of second-place finishes.
- While the fall portion of the collegiate schedule comes to an end this week, the Tribe will have five athletes competing at the Toyota U.S. Open Dec. 4-7 in Atlanta, Ga. They have been, and will continue over the next two weeks, training to try and earn Olympic Trials qualifying marks in the longer 50m course. W&M already has a program record-tying five athletes qualified for the Olympic Trials, and looking to add more.
- Five Tribe swimmers earned Olympic Trials qualifying marks over the summer. Wright is qualified in the 50m free and the 100m free, while his classmate Doherty is qualified in both the 50m free and the 100m fly. Senior
Ian Thompson (Alexandria, Va.) is qualified in the 50m free, and
Ben Skopic (Marriottsville, Md.) is qualified in the 200m IM. On the women's side, Cundiff picked up her first qualifying mark in the 50m free.
- W&M's two wins on the men's side at the CAA Pod Meet gave the Tribe 16-straight wins over conference opponents, breaking the program record of 15-straight in the Southern Conference won between 1968 and 1975.
- After winning twice at VMI, senior
Ian Bidwell (Pelham, N.Y.) was named the CAA Swimmer of the Week on Nov. 12. Bidwell already has a career-high five victories this season.
- Wright and Balbo are tied for sixth in school history with Hall of Famer
George Collins '70 with 61 career wins.
- Six of W&M's nine freshmen women,
Annie Tuttle (Alexandria, Va.),
Peyton Proffitt (Richmond, Va.),
Elizabeth Intihar (Columbus, Ohio),
Grace Tramack (Palo Alto, Calif.),
Brooke Lamoureux (Virginia Beach, Va.), and
Kim Jogis (Larchmont, N.Y.) have all recorded at least one individual win this season.
- Freshman
Conor Sokolowsky (Williamsburg, Va.) picked up the first win for the men's freshmen against VMI, winning the 200 breast.
- With 34 career wins already in her career, Bull is one win away from joining the Tribe's all-time top-16.
- Cundiff is undefeated so far in 2019-20 in the 50 free.
- Both Cundiff (50 free) and
Julia Bland (Sea Girt, N.J.) in the 400 IM are leading the CAA this season.
- On the men's side, W&M leads the league in 11 different events. Wright has the best time in the 50 free, 100 free, and the 200 free; while Balbo leads in the 500 free, 1000 free, and the 1650 free. Senior
Colin Demers (Virginia Beach, Va.) is tops in the 100 back and Skopic leads the 200 IM. The Tribe also has the top time this season in the 200 free relay, 200 medley relay, and the 400 medley relay.
-
Ben Skopic won his 30th career race against Johns Hopkins.
- W&M has broken 12 records so far this season.
Pool:
Men's 50 free - Colin Wright, 19.95 (10/5)
Men's 200 free - Colin Wright, 1:40.61 (10/5)
Men's 200 free relay - C. Wright, I. Thompson, J. Doherty, G. Hertweck, 1:20.99 (10/5)
Men's 200 medley relay - C. Demers, D. McNulty, J. Doherty, C. Wright, 1:29.21 (10/5)
Dual Meet:
Men's 50 free - Colin Wright, 19.95 (10/5)
Men's 100 fly - Jack Doherty, 49.13 (10/5), 49.12 (10/12), 49.00 (10/26)
Men's 200 IM - Ben Skopic, 1:51.15 (10/5)
Men's 200 free relay - C. Wright, I. Thompson, J. Doherty, G. Hertweck, 1:20.99 (10/5)
Men's 200 medley relay - C. Demers, D. McNulty, J. Doherty, C. Wright, 1:29.21 (10/5)
Men's 400 medley relay - C. Demers, I. Bidwell, J. Doherty, C. Wright, 3:20.30 (11/2)
