The William & Mary men's swimming team took advantage of a full prelim session on Friday morning at the West Virginia Invitational, advancing 27 men to finals across five events.  The Tribe is projected to retain the third spot in the standings with 621 points, while West Virginia opened up a commanding lead with 1,148 points, ahead of Kenyon (879.5) in second.

100 Fly
The morning started with six qualifiers in the 100 fly.  Senior Jack Doherty (Middletown, Conn.) is the fourth seed at 48.44 seconds, while his classmate Colin Wright (Williamsburg, Va.) was just off his personal-best pace, taking seventh in 48.81.  Senior Ian Thompson (Alexandria, Va.) is the top seed in the consolation finals in ninth overall with a time of 48.94 seconds, and sophomore Steven Thalblum (Ashburn, Va.) has top honors in the C finals, 17th overall in 49.85 seconds.  Sophomore Jack Galbraith (Vienna, Va.) will swim in the D finals after timing 50.28 for 28th overall, and he'll be joined by senior Chris Balbo (Short Hills, N.J.), 32nd in 50.41 seconds.

400 IM
In the 400 IM, senior Ben Skopic (Marriottsville, Md.) is the fourth seed in tonight's championship final at 3:58.48, pulling in just ahead of Balbo, who made the quick turnaround to swim his second event in a row and qualify for the championship finals in 3:58.69 for fifth place.  Freshman Conor Sokolowsky (Williamsburg, Va.) leads three Tribe swimmers in the D finals after timing 4:07.41 for 19th overall, and will joined in the heat by James Mostofi (Darien, Conn.), 28th in 4:10.85, and by Philip Barto (Midlothian, Va.) who took 31st in a time of 4:12.14.

200 Free
Freshman John O'Hara (Fredericksburg, Va.) was W&M's top finisher in the 200 free, qualifying for the consolation finals in 1:42.14 and 13th place in prelims.  Junior Christopher Pfuhl (Charlotte, N.C.) made the bonus finals in 22nd place, stopping the clock in 1:44.34, and senior Lee Bradley (Crestwood, Ky.) is the top seed in the D finals at 1:44.71 for 25th overall.  He'll be joined in that heat by junior Aristides Speres (Rye, N.H.), who was 27th in 1:44.88, and by freshman Owen Miller (Kalamazoo, Mich.) who swam 1:45.49 for 30th overall.

100 Breast
Junior Devin McNulty (Herndon, Va.) and senior Ian Bidwell (Pelham, N.Y.) both qualified for the championship heat in the 100 breast, with McNulty taking sixth in 56.26 seconds and Bidwell finishing in 56.51 seconds for eighth overall.  Sophomore Ryan Bebel (Westfield, N.J.) is the top seed in the consolation finals at 56.66 seconds for ninth overall, with freshman Kyle Demers (Virginia Beach, Va.) also making the heat in 57.47 seconds for 16th place.  The senior Wright made a very rare appearance in the 100 breast, swimming a lifetime-best 58.11 for 19th and a spot in the C finals, and freshman Flynn Crisci (Williamsburg, Va.) qualified for the D finals in 31st place at 58.72 seconds.

100 Back
Senior Colin Demers (Virginia Beach, Va.) qualified for the championship finals in his specialty event, the 100 back, and will be the fourth seed tonight after timing 48.40 seconds.  Thompson qualified for his second event of the day, stopping the clock in 49.75 seconds for 10th place and a spot in the consolation finals, where he'll be joined by Galbraith, 50.73 for 13th, and by Jake Kealy (Wilton, Conn.), 15th in 50.80 seconds.  The senior Bradley made his second D final of the day, advancing in 28th plce in 52.04 seconds.

The finals of all five events, as well as the 200 medley relay, the 800 free relay, and the 1-meter diving event, begin tonight at 6 p.m.

2019 West Virginia Invitational
Unofficial Projected Standings
1. West Virginia 1,148
2. Kenyon 879.5
3. William & Mary 621
4. Carnegie Mellon 450
5. Villanova 369
6. Old Dominion 290.5
7. Navy 32