MORGANTOWN, W.VA. -- The Navy men's swimming and diving team totaled 10 event victories and nine second-place finishes to win the five-team West Virginia Invitational which concluded Friday at The Peak Health Aquatic Center at Mylan Park in Morgantown, W.Va.  The Navy women's team finished the three-day meet in third place after it tallied two victories and eight medals.

The men amassed 2,600 points to finish over 800 points ahead of the second-place finishing Mountaineers (1,754).  William & Mary totaled 1,853 points to win the women's meet, Villanova placed second with 1,753.50 points and the Mids accrued 1,621.50 points to place third.

"We were happy with our performances this week," said Navy men's swimming head coach Bill Roberts.  "This team did a terrific job of racing, competing and finding ways to continue to improve both in the water and on the boards.  They have worked extremely hard all season long and it was rewarding to see this group produce consistent quality performances throughout the three days."

"Thanks to West Virginia for hosting a great meet and providing an epic celebration for our seniors who learned of their service assignments Thursday during the meet," said Navy women's swimming head coach John Morrison.  "We were very pleased with the racing and grit our team displayed from the first heat Wednesday morning to the final relay Friday night.

"Overall, our racing was very strong throughout each session. We still need to clean up some things heading into our last meet of the calendar year."

Men's Meet
Navy had a strong opening day to the meet to build a lead of nearly 300 points over West Virginia.  The Mids accrued 761 points on day one to better the score of 478 points posted by the Mountaineers.  Navy accomplished this despite winning only two events.

Everet Andrew won the opening individual event of the meet, the 500 freestyle, with a time of 4:24.49.  He led a 1-2-3-4 finish by the Mids as Dean Jones placed second (4:25.57) and Luca Oliva claimed third place (4:27.53).

Navy's additional victory on the Wednesday came in the 400 medley relay.  The team of Ben Irwin, Juan Mora, Lachlan Andrew and Everet Andrew won the event in a time of 3:11.57.  

Earlier in the session, Mora had placed second in the 200 IM (1:47.50) to finish one spot in front of teammate Coleman Yates (1:47.70) and the 200 free relay team of Gavin Green, Simon Thompson, Lachlan Andrew and Austin Lockhart also won the silver medal (1:19.90).

Navy expanded its advantage to almost 700 points after day two as it had scored a total of 1,851 points and led West Virginia's second-place total of 1,195 points.  The Mids did this by winning five of the eight events contested on the day, placing second four times and recording a pair of third-place showings.

The evening began with Navy's 200 medley relay team of Irwin, Mora, Lachlan Andrew and Green winning the race in a time of 1:26.47.  That was followed by Irwin placing second (47.67) and Lachlan Andrew finishing in third place (48.34) in the 100 fly.  Oliva followed with a third-place finish in the 400 IM (3:59.30), then Everet Andrew placed second in the next event, the 200 free, with a time of 1:37.59.  

The Mids would win the remaining four events contested on the day.

The run started with Mora winning the 100 breast in a time of 52.82 and Green placing second (53.48).  Mora's effort was under the NCAA B cut standard of 53.43.  Irwin posted a time of 47.06 to win the 100 back to beat the NCAA B cut time (47.16), then Blakeman Shaw won the one-meter diving event in a time of 374.70.  Shaw easily surpassed the NCAA Zone Diving Championship qualifying standard of 300 points.  Teammate Anthony Sciulli joined Shaw on the podium with a second-place score of 281.85.

Navy's 800 free relay team of Everet Andrew, Jones, Conor Cranfield and Benjamin Stankovich closed the night by winning the event in a time of 6:30.67.

Friday began for the men with the way Thursday ended as the Mids placed first, second and third in the 200 backstroke.  Irwin posted a time of 1:42.35 to win the event, Yates followed in second with his time of 1:47.06 and Will de la Garza recorded a 1:47.24 to place third.

The run of five victories came to an end in the 100 freestyle as Lockhart was the top Navy finisher with his fifth-place effort of 44.78.  That was followed by Mora winning the 200 breaststroke in a time of 1:55.32.  The final individual event of the meet saw Tyler Kaminski take the silver medal in the 200 fly (1:49.10).

Also, Navy's Dean Jones would win the timed finals in the 1650 free with his effort of 15:24.90.  Luca Oliva finished in second place with a clocking of 15:47.32.

Navy then placed fourth in the meet-closing 400 freestyle relay as the team of Stankovich, Evan McKelvey, Jones and Lachlan Andrew combined for a time of 2:59.68.

Women's Meet
Navy ended day one in third place with 440.5 points.  The Mids trailed leader William & Mary by 100.5 points (543.5) and second-place Villanova by 46.5 points (496).

The top individual event showings on the day for Navy came from Catherine Weaverling and Lily Barrett.  Weaverling placed fourth in the 200 IM (2:02.77) and Barrett finished in fourth place in one-meter diving (242.35).  Weaverling also placed fifth in the 50 free final (23.59) and Sarah Eldridge finished in seventh place in the 500 free (4:56.91).

Navy scored well in the two relay events contested on the opening day.  The Mids opened the meet with a fourth-place showing in the 200 free relay (1:34.44 by Megan Murphy, Tiffany Shields, Allie Maloney, Samantha Clifford) and ended it with a second-place finish in the 400 medley relay event (3:41.98 by Ela Habjan, Lauren Walsh, Caroline Irwin, Tiffany Shields).

The Navy deficits in the team standings remained roughly the same after day two, but with a flip of the two teams ahead of it.  Villanova surged into first place with 1,233.5 points, William & Mary fell to second with 1,215 points and the Mids were in third place with 1,174.5 points.

Navy earned its first two victories of the invite in back-to-back events as Walsh won the 100 breast in a time of 1:01.65 and Habjan won the 100 back with an effort of 54.32.  

Additional medalists on Thursday were Weaverling, who placed third in the 100 fly (54.46) and Kim, who earned the bronze in three-meter diving (271.85).  Completing the list of top finishers in events were Eldridge in the 400 IM (fifth, 4:23.91) and Erin Miller in the 200 free (eighth, 1:52.13).

The Mids also finished in second place in the 200 medley relay as the team of Habjan, Walsh, Irwin and Shields compiled a time of 1:41.69.  Additionally, the 800 free relay team of Miller, Clifford, Brynn Stoneburg and Maloney posted a time of 7:35.79 to place seventh.

Weaverling also was Navy's top-placing swimmer in an event on Friday. She posted a time of 2:01.36 to place third in the 200 fly.  

Maloney was the top Navy finisher in the 200 back as her effort of 2:01.16 gave her a fourth-place showing.  Eldridge finished in seventh place in the 1650 timed finals with her clocking of 17:07.45.  Rounding out the individual events were Walsh placing fifth in the 200 breast (2:16.61) and Shields finishing in seventh place in the 100 free (51.53).

Navy closed the meet with a third-place finish in the 400 free relay.  The team of Shields, Weaverling, Miller and Irwin compiled a time of 3:24.87 to earn the bronze medal.

"Our senior class led from the front," said Morrison.  "Catherine Weaverling had some great swims in each of her events, and Tiffany Shields and Caroline Irwin followed suit.

"Ela Habjan and Lauren Walsh had two great swims on the second night of the finals.  Our entire freshman class did an excellent job of adjusting to their first collegiate meet in a championship format.  Allie Maloney and Elsie Delacruz really stepped up to the competition.  Divers Mackenzie Kim and Lily Barrett provided us with some much needed points to keep us in third place ahead of West Virginia."

Up Next
The Navy teams will compete at Army on Thursday, Dec. 5.

Navy Women - Championship Finalists
200 Freestyle Relay – 4th, Megan Murphy, Tiffany Shields, Allie Maloney, Samantha Clifford (1:34.44); 5th, Catherine Weaverling, Ela Habjan, Jennifer Luong, Caroline Irwin (1:34.54)
500 Freestyle – 7th, Sarah Eldridge (4:56.91)
200 Individual Medley - 4th, Catherine Weaverling (2:02.77); T5th, Elsie Delacruz (2:03.11)
50 Freestyle – 5th, Catherine Weaverling (23.59); 7th, Caroline Irwin (23.75)
1-Meter Diving – 4th, Lily Barrett (242.35); 8th, Mackenzie Kim (217.00)
400 Medley Relay – 2nd, Ela Habjan, Lauren Walsh, Caroline Irwin, Tiffany Shields (3:41.98); 6th, Allie Maloney, Maddie Koutavas, Catherine Weaverling, Erin Miller (3:45.91)
200 Medley Relay – 2nd, Ela Habjan, Lauren Walsh, Caroline Irwin, Tiffany Shields (1:41.69); 6th, Megan Murphy, Maddie Koutavas, Catherine Weaverling, Samantha Clifford (1:44.20)
100 Butterfly – 3rd, Catherine Weaverling (54.46); 7th, Caroline Irwin (55.60)
400 Individual Medley – 5th, Sarah Eldridge (4:23.91)
200 Freestyle – 8th, Erin Miller (1:52.13)
100 Breaststroke – 1st, Lauren Walsh (1:01.65); 6th, Maddie Koutavas (1:03.16)
100 Backstroke – 1st, Ela Habjan (54.32); 6th, Tiffany Shields (56.07); 8th, Catherine Weaverling (56.67)
3-Meter Diving – 3rd, Mackenzie Kim (271.85)
800 Freestyle Relay – 7th, Erin Miller, Samantha Clifford, Brynn Stoneburg, Allie Maloney (7:35.79); 8th, Marin Rose, Viviana Vergara-Anglim, Valentina Albo, Sarah Eldridge (7:37.22)
1650 Freestyle (timed final) – 7th, Sarah Eldridge (17:07.45)
200 Backstroke – 4th, Allie Maloney (2:01.16); 5th, Ela Habjan (2:02.72)
100 Freestyle – 7th, Tiffany Shields (51.53)
200 Breaststroke – 5th, Lauren Walsh, 2:16.61; 6th, Maddie Koutavas, 2:16.81
200 Butterfly – 3rd, Catherine Weaverling (2:01.36)
400 Freestyle Relay – 3rd, Tiffany Shields, Catherine Weaverling, Erin Miller, Caroline Irwin (3:24.87); 6th, Lauren Walsh, Ela Habjan, Allie Maloney, Samantha Clifford (3:28.30); 7th, Jennifer Luong, Phoebe Yoder, Samantha Aguirre, Alana Maxey (3:28.76)

Navy Men - Championship Finalists
200 Freestyle Relay – 2nd, Gavin Green, Simon Thompson, Lachlan Andrew, Austin Lockhart (1:19.90); 3rd, Thomas Morris, Henry Cain, Evan McKelvey, Natanas Gaver (1:20.92)
500 Freestyle – 1st, Everet Andrew (4:24.49); 2nd, Dean Jones (4:25.57); 3rd, Luca Oliva (4:27.53); 4th, Zach Stump (4:28.99); 6th, Benjamin Stankovich (4:32.42); Cedric Brooking (4:32.72)
200 Individual Medley - 2nd, Juan Mora (1:47.50); 3rd, Coleman Yates (1:47.70)
50 Freestyle – 4th, Austin Lockhart (20.23); 5th, Simon Thompson (20.31); 6th, Lachlan Andrew (20.35); T7th, Thomas Morris (20.49); T-7th, Gavin Green (20.49)
3-Meter Diving – 6th, Zach Peng (277.20)
400 Medley Relay – 1st, Ben Irwin, Juan Mora, Lachlan Andrew, Everet Andrew (3:11.57); 6th, Will Jones, Nate Sukeena, Matt Beehler, Evan McKelvey (3:17.02); 7th, Aaron Mendoza, Gavin Green, Tyler Kaminski, Austin Lockhart (3:18.34)
200 Medley Relay – 1st, Ben Irwin, Juan Mora, Lachlan Andrew, Gavin Green (1:26.47); 5th, Zach Stump, Nate Sukeena, Tyler Kaminski, Simon Thompson (1:30.58)
100 Butterfly – 2nd, Ben Irwin (47.67); 3rd, Lachlan Andrew (48.34)
400 Individual Medley – 3rd, Luca Oliva (3:54.56); 5th, Casey Aten (3:59.30); 6th, Coleman Yates (3:59.56); 7th, Jake Douberly (4:00.12); 8th, Will Jones (4:02.10)
200 Freestyle – 2nd, Everet Andrew (1:37.59); 4th, Dean Jones (1:38.10); 5th, Benjamin Stankovich (1:38.23); 7th, Cohen Bruner (1:40.82)
100 Breaststroke – 1st, Juan Mora (52.82); 2nd, Gavin Green (53.48); 8th, Michael Phillips (55.60)
100 Backstroke – 1st, Ben Irwin (47.06); 5th, Aaron Mendoza (49.89); 8th, Will De La Garza (50.38)
1-Meter Diving – 1st, Blakeman Shaw (374.70); 2nd, Anthony Sciulli, 281.85
800 Freestyle Relay – 1st, Everet Andrew, Dean Jones, Conor Cranfield, Benjamin Stankovich (6:30.67); 4th, Zach Stump, Gio Aguirre, Evan McKelvey, Cohen Bruner (6:41.36)
1650 Freestyle (timed final) – 1st, Dean Jones (15:24.90); 2nd, Luca Oliva (15:47.32); 4th, Cedric Brooking (15:50.98); 6th, Casey Aten (15:56.86)
200 Backstroke – 1st, Ben Irwin (1:42.35); 2nd, Coleman Yates (1:47.06); 3rd, Will De La Garza (1:47.24); 6th, Will Jones (1:49.26)
100 Freestyle – 5th, Austin Lockhart (44.78); 6th, Lachlan Andrew (44.80); 7th, Simon Thompson (45.08)
200 Breaststroke – 1st, Juan Mora (1:55.32); 4th, Gavin Green (1:59.83); 5th, Michael Phillips (2:01.38); 8th, Noah Robinson (2:01.90)
200 Butterfly – 2nd, Tyler Kaminski (1:49.10); 4th, Evan O'Dea (1:50.77)
400 Freestyle Relay – 4th, Benjamin Stankovich, Evan McKelvey, Dean Jones, Lachlan Andrew (2:59.68); 5th, Simon Thompson, Natanas Gaver, Thomas Morris, Henry Cain (3:00.30)

Women's Scores
1. William & Mary, 1,853; 2. Villanova, 1.753.50; 3. Navy, 1,621.50; 4th, West Virginia, 1,530; 5th, Old Dominion, 504
Men's Scores
1. Navy, 2,600; 2, West Virginia, 1,754; 3. Villanova, 1,200; 4. Old Dominion, 1,045; 5, William & Mary, 894