USMMA And Scranton Swimming Each Take Wins In Battle Of Defending Champions

KINGS POINT, N.Y. - The United States Merchant Marine Academy men’s swimming and diving team defeated Landmark Conference opponent the University of Scranton, 126-76. A variety of Mariners had strong swims on the day along with season best times.

The Mariners started the day off strong as they broke a University of Scranton pool record with a time of 1:39.22 in the 200-yard Medley Relay. Trevor Mays followed with another pool record in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:05.88). Mays also took first in the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 4:58.85. Frank Vita placed first in two events, the 200-yard freestyle (1:49.91) and the 200-yard butterfly (1:59.28). Jordan Edler took first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.51. Nicholas Mann was another Mariner with multiple wins as he took first in the 200-yard IM (2:01.67) and the 200-yard breaststroke (2:18.51). John Murphy had a strong swim in the 200-yard backstroke as he finished first with a time of 2:03.96.

Eight Mariners on the day swam season best times. John Albrecht swam a season best time in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:49.51). Andrew Seebode came in at a time of 2:08.68 for a season best time in the 200-yard IM. Blake Krell and Joshua Sindorf each swam a season best time in the 200-yard freestyle. Krell came in at 1:52.86 while Sindorf came in at 1:58.25. Max Franco and Joe Martinet both swam season best times in the 200-yard butterfly. Franco came in at 2:14.43 and Martinet came in at 2:19.63. Scott Heilman swam a time of 5:20.76 and Chris Stafford swam a time of 5:49.03 for season best times in the 500-yard freestyle.

On the women's side, The Royals, now 8-0, opened the meet with a first-place finish in the 200 medley relay, as sophomore Christine Gorge (Harleysville, Pa./Lansdale Catholic), junior Amie Leonard (Sparta, N.J./Pope John Paul XXIII), senior Mary Pat DeHaven (Pennington, N.J./Hopewell Valley Central), and sophomore Carolyn Gillespie (New Market, Md./Linganore) covered the distance in 1:57.48.

Scranton then placed first in the next eight events to build up an insurmountable lead. Posting first-place finishes for the Royals were first-year swimmer Colleen Logan (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) in the 1000 free (11:38.71), senior Lauren Wieland (Blue Bell, Pa./Wissahickon) in the 200 free (2:04.69) and 200 back (2:21.30), Gillespie in the 50 free (:25.83), junior Brianna McArdle (Philadelphia, Pa./Nazareth Academy) in the 200 individual medley (2:31.50), junior Allison Sampson (Sugarloaf, Pa./Hazleton Area) in the 200 fly (2:25.25), junior Brittany Reyes (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) in the 100 free (:59.24), and senior Aileen Silvestri (Southport, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) in the 500 free (5:42.88).

The Mariners won the final two events of the day, as freshman Casey Moore (Tucson, Ariz./Flowing Wells) captured the 200 breaststroke in 2:44.36 and the quartet of freshman Casey Roth (APO, AP, Japan/Highland Park), freshman Erika Lawson (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest), freshman Lauren Callahan (Mineola, N.Y./Holy Trinity), and junior Paula Springs (Colorado Springs, Colo./Hereford) won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:59.40.

Story provided USMMA & Scranton Sports Information