The William & Mary swimming teams, fresh off of strong weeks at the CAA Pod Meet last weekend, head to Lexington, Va., to face VMI in the final dual meet of the fall season. The Tribe and the Keydets will square off at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 9.
Scouting the Tribe Men
W&M swept meets against UNCW and Delaware last weekend in Harrisonburg to improve to 4-1 on the year, and a perfect 3-0 against CAA opponents to finish undefeated in conference play for the fifth-straight season. Senior
Chris Balbo (Short Hills, N.J.) went a perfect 6-0 at the Pod Meet to take the team lead this season with 11 wins, while his classmate
Colin Wright (Williamsburg, Va.) is close behind with nine wins.
Scouting the Tribe Women
On the women's side, W&M went 2-1 at the Pod Meet to improve to 2-4 on the year and 2-2 in the CAA.
Megan Bull (Hillsborough, N.J.) won five races at the Pod Meet to run her season total to nine victories, while
Missy Cundiff (Leesburg, Va.) and
Julia Bland (Sea Girt, N.J.) both earned wins in their signature events, the 50 free and the 400 IM, respectively.
Scouting the Keydets Men
VMI is 1-2 on the season so far, winning over Centre College after opening with losses to Howard and Davidson. Zach Emerson is fourth in both backstrokes in the America East, while Jack Sheehan is third in the 200 IM and fourth in the 100 breast.
Scouting the Keydets Women
On the women's side, VMI is 0-2 with losses to Howard and Centre. Sophomore Sophie Svoboda broke her own school records in both breastrokes against Centre, winning the two events.
The Series
- W&M leads the all-time series against the VMI men, 27-16, having won every meeting since 1966 including the last three years in a row.
- In the women's series, the Tribe has won all three meetings.
Notes
- W&M's two wins on the men's side last weekend 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.
- Wright is tied for sixth in school history with Hall of Famer
George Collins '70 with 61 career wins, while Balbo is right behind them with 59 wins for eighth all-time.
- Four of W&M's nine freshmen women,
Annie Tuttle (Alexandria, Va.),
Peyton Proffitt (Richmond, Va.),
Elizabeth Intihar (Columbus, Ohio), and
Grace Tramack (Palo Alto, Calif.), have all recorded at least one individual win this season.
- 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 Bland (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
Ben Skopic (Marriottsville, Md.) 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.
- 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 Skopic is qualified in the 200m IM. On the women's side, Cundiff picked up her first qualifying mark in the 50m free.
- Freshman
Conor Sokolowsky (Williamsburg, Va.) was elected President of the Freshman Class in a school-wide election at the start of October.
-
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)
