The William & Mary men's swimming team opened the scoring on Thursday night at the West Virginia Invitational with a very strong win in the 200 free relay, one of five podium finishes on the night for the Tribe. With six events in the books, W&M is third overall in the seven-team field with 298 points, behind only host West Virginia and Kenyon.
200 Free Relay
Leading things off in the 200 free relay was senior
Colin Wright (Williamsburg, Va.), who swam 20.45 on the lead-off leg before giving way to
Ian Thompson (Alexandria, Va.), 19.55, and
Graham Hertweck (Greensboro, N.C.), 20.34 in turn. Senior
Jack Doherty (Middletown, Conn.) anchored in a fast 19.41, bringing the Tribe into the wall in 1:19.75, the fifth-fastest time in school history and nearly a second ahead of the rest of the field. W&M's second relay also scored in 11th place, with the team of
Ian Bidwell (Pelham, N.Y.),
Aristides Speres (Rye, N.Y.),
Devin McNulty (Herndon, Va.), and
Christopher Pfuhl (Charlotte, N.C.) combining to time 1:25.23.
500 Free
Senior
Chris Balbo (Short Hills, N.J.) was fifth in the 500 free in 4:31.22, and his classmate Bidwell made the quick turnaround in both time and temperament from the sprints to take 16th in 4:39.15. Freshman
Conor Sokolowsky (Williamsburg, Va.) swam a lifetime-best by more than a second to take 19th in 4:38.37, with his classmate
John O'Hara (Fredericksburg, Va.) scoring in 21st place with a time of 4:43.13. Junior
James Mostofi (Darien, Conn.), swimming in the D final, was 27th overall in 4:42.98, and freshman
Owen Miller (Kalamazoo, Mich.) was close behind in 4:44.46 for 29th place.
200 IM
Doctoral student
Ben Skopic (Marriottsville, Md.) took second overall in the 200 IM, cutting two seconds from his prelim time to stop the clock in 1:48.71. Sophomore
Steven Thalblum (Ashburn, Va.) was 12th in 1:52.90, and junior
Jake Kealy (Wilton, Conn.) swam 1:54.58 for 29th overall. Sophomore
Ryan Bebel (Westfield, N.J.) was right behind him in 1:55.36 for 30th, and freshman
Noah Fields (Williamsburg, Va.) was 32nd overall in 1:59.16.
50 Free
The four members of the top 200 free relay were all back in action in the 50 free, scoring big points for the Tribe. Wright finished second overall in 20 seconds even, with Doherty third in 20.45 and Thompson fourth in 20.50 seconds. Hertweck, meanwhile, swam 20.84 seconds and took 13th overall.
400 Medley Relay
The final event of the night was the 400 medley relay, where W&M's top team took second overall. Senior
Colin Demers (Virginia Beach, Va.) led-off with a 48.28 split for the backstroke leg, before McNulty, Doherty, and Wright dove in in-turn. The quartet timed 3:15.40 for the silver medal, which was the eighth-fastest time in school history. The Tribe also took sixth in 3:21.41 for 48 more points, thanks to the team of
Jack Galbraith (Vienna, Va.), 50.92 on the lead-off, Bidwell, Thompson, and Hertweck.
The West Virginia Invitational continues on Friday, with prelims in the 100 fly, 400 IM, 200 free, 100 back, and 100 breast beginning at 10 a.m.
2019 West Virginia Invitational
Team Standings (Six Events Scored)
1. West Virginia 619
2. Kenyon 462.5
3. William & Mary 298
4. Villanova 192
5. Carnegie Mellon 190
6. Old Dominion 116.5
7. Navy 32
