PRINCETON, N.J. –– For the second year in a row, Princeton overcame a deficit heading into the final event of the meet to rally for a narrow victory over the Navy men's swimming and diving team Saturday afternoon at DeNunzio Pool in Princeton, N.J. The Tigers (7-0) won the meet-closing 400 freestyle relay to defeat the Mids (9-2), 152-148.
Today's meet came one day short of a full year after Princeton placed second and third in the 400 free relay to defeat Navy 151.5-148.5.
"Both teams put on an excellent show for all of the people watching," said Navy men's swimming head coach
Bill Roberts. "It was a very exciting meet, which is great for our sport. The way we competed makes it hard to be too upset with the loss."
Navy won the opening two events of the meet to jump out to a 25-11 advantage. The team of
James Wilson (Jr., Ephrata, Pa.),
Michael Velazquez (Sr., Henderson, Nev.),
Zach Piedt (Sr., Fort Mill, S.C.) and
Vince Everman (Sr., Philadelphia, Pa.) posted a time of 1:30.45 to win the 200 medley relay by six-hundredths of a second.
Luke Johnson (So., Charlotte, N.C.) then won the 1000 free in a time of 9:22.80, with teammate
Billy Cadigan (So., Lutherville, Md.) placing second (9:29.58).
The Mids also went 1-2 in the fifth event, the 100 breaststroke, as Velazquez touched the wall first in a time of 55.64 and was followed by
Chris Bondarowicz (So., Scotch Plains, N.J.) in second with his effort of 56.41. Princeton took its first lead of the day after event seven, the 50 free, as the Tigers placed first, third and fifth to take a 67-64 lead. Navy regained the advantage in the next event, the one-meter diving competition, as
Bradley Buchter (Jr., Hickory, N.C.) scored 405.83 points to win the event by 63 points. Navy divers also placed third and fourth in the event to give it a 78-72 lead halfway through the meet.
The Mids earned their next win in event 11, the 200 breaststroke.
Brayden Lauffer (Sr., Apex, N.C.) recorded a time of 2:01.53 to place first, with Bondarowicz earning his second silver medal of the day with a clocking of 2:02.24. That boosted Navy out to a 108-99 lead, and the advantage became 122-104 after Johnson (4:34.36) led a 1-3-4 finish for the Mids in the 500 freestyle.
The Tigers would finish first, second and fourth in the 100 fly to close to within 126-119, then Princeton's Charlie Minns was awarded 375.45 points to slightly better Buchter's total of 372.00 for the three-meter victory. The win, coupled with a third-place showing by the Tigers, winnowed the margin down to 133-131 with just two events still on the docket.
Navy claimed the middle three of five finishers in the 200 individual medley, which made the score 142-141 in favor of Navy through all but the 400 free relay. The Mids held the lead in the final race through the first 250 yards, but in the end the Tigers would post a time of 3:00.38 to win the event by 1.58 seconds and the meet by four points.
"I am happy with the way we competed," said Roberts. "We raced well and put together some good times. We saw some things we need to work on to improve, but this was a good meet for Navy for this time of year."
"I am really happy with how all of our divers competed, especially with all of the training we have been doing recently," said Navy diving coach
Rich MacDonald. "They are tired, but you couldn't see that in the way they dove today. Bradley broke the pool record on the one meter and
Nash Nickerson (Jr., Doylestown, Pa.) qualified for the NCAA Zone Championship."
Both Navy teams will be back in action one week from today when the Mids play host to North Carolina and Penn State in Lejeune Hall.
