USMMA Swims Past Ranked DII Squad

KINGS POINT, N.Y. - Pavel Milke factored into three winning performances to help lead the United States Merchant Marine Academy men's swimming and diving team to a 133-79 victory over No. 24 nationally-ranked Adelphi, an NCAA Division II school, on Thursday evening. Milke swam on two winning relays and was also victorious in the 50 yard freestyle.

USMMA improved to 6-1 overall in dual meets this season. Adelphi dropped to 6-1 overall in dual meets this year.

 "I was very pleased with our swims today," said Head Coach Sean Tedesco. "The team has been training hard and still got up and swam fast."

 Individually, Milke won the 50 yard freestyle in a season best time of 22.42. He also teamed up with John Murphy, Stuart Whitaker and Nick Krupa on the winning 400 yard medley relay team that clocked in at 3:42.73. Milke swam the opening leg of the 400 yard freestyle relay squad which finished in 3:17.78. He was followed by Erik Johnsen, Peter Kaminski and Krupa.

"I am proud of Pavel Milke," added Tedesco. "He swam great in all three of his events today."

Nicholas Chester, Johnsen, John Murphy and John Albrecht also won individual events at the meet. Chester won the 200 yard individual medley in 2:05.52. Johnsen dropped a second in the 200 yard butterfly and won it in 2:01.84. Murphy was victorious in the 200 yard backstroke in 2:01.95 and dropped a second off his season-best time. Albrecht won the 500 yard freestyle event in 5:04.34.

Several other Mariners swam season-best times at the meet. Whitaker dropped five seconds off his season-best time in the 200 yard breastroke (2:21.46). He also swam a season-best time in the 200 yard individual medley with a time of 2:08.25.

Johnsen dropped six seconds in the 1000 yard freestyle and finished in 10:35.86. John Klocke had a strong swim in the same event and clocked in at 11:10.73.

Krupa dropped a second off his season-best time in the 50 yard freestyle and posted a time of 22.84 seconds. Ellison's time of 2:02.28 in the 200 yard butterfly was also a season-best time.

In the 100 yard freestyle event, Andrew Denning and Brad Pearson also dropped a second off their season-best times. Denning finished in 51.16 and Pearson clocked in at 52.59.

On the diving board, freshman Nicholas Halbach once again made NCAA cuts in both events. He scored 290.42 from the high board and 278.10 from the low board.

The Mariners return to action at the O'Hara Hall Natatorium when they host Landmark Conference opponents Drew University and Goucher College on Saturday afternoon. The meet is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.