The William & Mary men's swimming team began the West Virginia Invitational on Thursday morning with 14 qualifiers for finals, including one top seed and an NCAA provisional qualifier. After the swimming prelims in three events, the Tribe is third in the projected team standings with 145 points, behind only host West Virginia (239 points) and the legendary Kenyon program, with 225 points.
Live Results
500 Free
W&M started things off in the 500 free with six qualifiers, led by senior
Chris Balbo (Short Hills, N.J.) who is seeded fourth in the championship heet with a time of 4:31.28. His classmate
Ian Bidwell (Pelham, N.Y.) made the consolation finals in 4:40.30 for 16th place, while a pair of freshmen,
Conor Sokolowsky (Williamsburg, Va.) and
John O'Hara (Fredericksburg, Va.) both made the C finals in 4:41.07 and 4:43.37, respectively. Another rookie,
Owen Miller (Kalamazoo, Mich.), and junior
James Mostofi (Darien, Conn.) both qualified for the D finals, swimming 4:45.24 and 4:46.22.
200 IM
Senior
Ben Skopic (Marriottsville, Md.) made the championship finals of the 200 IM in 1:50.47, placing third overall in the morning's prelims. Sophomore
Steven Thalblum (Ashburn, Va.) was 12th in 1:53.30 to qualify for the B finals in 12th place, and
Jake Kealy (Wilton, Conn.) and
Noah Fields (Williamsburg, Va.) both made the D finals, placing 26th and 32nd in 1:55.12 and 1:56.20, respectively. The Tribe may possible add two more qualifiers, as both the alternates also wear the Green and Gold. Sophomore
Ryan Bebel (Westfield, N.J.) was 33rd overall in 1:56.34, while senior
Lee Bradley (Crestwood, Ky.) swam 1:56.72 for 34th place.
50 Free
Senior
Colin Wright (Williamsburg, Va.) kept his reputation as one of the fastest men in America intact in the prelims of the 50 free, timing a season-best 19.92 to earn the top seed tonight and provisionally qualify for the NCAA Championships. That was tied for the 13th-fastest race in school history, and gave Wright his 10th win of the season. He'll be joined in the championship heat by his classmates
Jack Doherty (Middletown, Conn.), third in 20.46, and
Ian Thompson (Alexandria, Va.), seventh in 20.63 seconds. Sophomore
Graham Hertweck (Greensboro, N.C.) is the top seed in the consolation finals, tying for ninth overall in 20.69 seconds.
Finals in all three events, as well as platform diving, the 200 free relay, and the 400 medley relay, begin tonight at 6 p.m.
2019 West Virginia Invitational
Unofficial Projected Standings
1. West Virginia 239
2. Kenyon 225
3. William & Mary 145
4. Villanova 91
5. Carnegie Mellon 71
6. Old Dominion 45
