Final Stats

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy swimming and diving teams combined to place first, second and third in nine events on their way to sweeping George Mason Friday evening at Lejeune Hall in Annapolis. Navy's women's team won 10 events to post a 162-128 win over the Patriots, while the Navy men's squad totaled 12 event victories as part of its 162-133 win.

Both Navy teams evened their respective record on the season to 1-1 with the victories. Friday was the first dual meet of the season for each of the George Mason programs.

"We had a great finish to the meet," said Navy women's swimming head coach John Morrison. "I was real pleased with the fight in the second half."

"The guys did a good job with their splits in the events," said Navy men's swimming head coach Bill Roberts. "I'm pleased with the overall outcome."

The women's meet saw the lead change hands five times through the first half of the meet. After George Mason won the 200m medley relay, the Mids took an advantage thanks to Jenny Smith (Fr., Columbus, Ohio) leading a 1-2-3 finish for Navy in the 800m freestyle. Smith posted a time of 9:13.49 to win the race by seven seconds over teammate Sara Lopez (So., Lenexa, Kan.). The Patriots regained the lead two events later, only to see Navy take it right back with Hanna Gillcrist (So., Burlington, Ky.) winning the next event, the 100m breaststroke, by less than one-quarter of a second with her time of 1:14.20.

It took two just more races for George Mason to take the lead again, but that lasted only until the diving results were posted at the first break in the action. Julie Jesse (Jr., Edwardsburg, Mich.) accrued 252.30 points to win the three-meter springboard by 30 points over teammate Hannah Collins (Fr., Bellbrook, Ohio) and by 41 points over fellow Mid Amanda Zerphy (So., Allentown, Pa.).

"We were a little lazy in the first half with coming in right after classes," said Morrison, "but we found our stride and went after it following the break."

Navy would win seven of the remaining eight events to eventually pull away from George Mason. Maddi Thompson (Jr., Jersey Shore, Pa.) began the second half of the meet by recording a time of 59.35 to win the 100m free by two-tenths of a second, then Emily Ranzau (Fr., Johns Creek, Ga.) won the 200m backstroke in a time of 2:19.13. Ranzau's win came by one-half of a second.

"Maddi had a great race," said Morrison, "and it was great to see Emily back that up with her finish."

George Mason would win the next event, the 200m breaststroke, but couldn't cut into Navy's lead as the Mids placed second, third and fourth in the race. Navy would gain just enough breathing room over the Patriots by claiming the top-three swimmers in the 400m free. Charlotte Meyer's (So., Bethesda, Md.) time of 4:29.29 gave her the victory in the event.

"Our distance swimmers did a fantastic job of holding their own and keeping us in the meet," said Morrison. "It was an exciting move forward for them today."

Gillcrist continued Navy's run by winning the 100m fly by just one-hundredth of a second with her time of 1:04.49, Jesse's score of 270.60 led another 1-2-3 Navy showing on the one-meter board then Meyer's time of 2:23.37 gave her the win in the 200 IM with her teammates also finishing in second and third place in the event.

"Our divers did an awesome job, led by Julie attaining an NCAA Zone Diving Meet qualifying score," said Morrison. "Congrats to her and to diving coach Rich MacDonald."

Navy closed the meet by winning the 400 freestyle relay.

"We as a team took another step in the right direction today," said Morrison.

George Mason also opened the men's meet by winning the 200m medley relay, but Navy would quickly take control of the meet by winning each of the next four events and going 1-2-3 in the latter three of those races.

Tom Duvall (Jr., Durham, N.H.) started the individual portion of the meet by posting a time of 8:25.49 to win the 800m freestyle race by three seconds. Joseph Jaime (Fr., San Antonio, Texas) followed by recording a time of 1:56.26 to win the 200m free by eight-tenths of a second, Alex Nickell (Jr., Loveland, Colo.) won the 100m backstroke by seven-tenths of a second with his clocking of 57.73 and Marlin Brutkiewicz (So., Mobile, Ala.) won the 100m breaststroke by over one second with his time of 1:03.90.

After George Mason swimmers won the 200m fly and 50m free races, the first half of the meet ended with Navy's Nate Belch (Fr., Tucson, Ariz.) posting a score of 285.98 to win the one-meter diving event by 60 points. Mids would also claim the second and third-place spots in the event.

Dain Bomberger (Sr., Lititz, Pa.) opened the second half of the meet by placng first by 1.2 seconds over another Mid in the 100m free with his time of 52.12. Young Tae Seo (Fr., Los Angeles, Calif.) gave Navy its third win in a row with his time of 2:05.80 in the 200m backstroke, with Eric Collins (So., North Augusta, S.C.) running the winning streak to four-straight events with his clocking of 2:24.31 in the 200m breaststroke. Both Seo and Collins would win their respective races by well over two seconds.

Jonathan DeBaugh (Jr., Conroe, Texas) would go on to win the 100m fly by nearly two seconds with a time of 55.77, Seo won the 200 individual medley by over three seconds with a time of 2:07.48 and Belch tallied 332.10 points to win the three-meter board by 55 points.

"Nate was great today in winning and qualifying for the NCAA Zone Meet," said Roberts. "It also was nice to see both Eric and Joseph win the first collegiate race of their respective careers."

Navy's men's team matched the effort of the Navy women by winning the 400m freestyle relay race.

Both Navy teams will be back in action Wednesday when the Mids play host to UMBC in a 4 p.m, meet in Lejeune Hall.