Swimming

2024 Patriot League Champs: Navy Men Claim 20th-Straight Team Title; Navy Women 13th

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By Laura Rosado on SwimSwam

2024 PATRIOT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS

TEAM SCORES (FINAL)

MEN

  1. Navy – 1639.5
  2. Army – 1589
  3. Loyola – 1099
  4. Bucknell – 1043.5
  5. BU – 600
  6. Lehigh – 448.5
  7. Lafayette – 393
  8. Holy Cross – 390
  9. Colgate – 339
  10. American – 260.5

WOMEN

  1. Navy – 1397
  2. Army – 1199
  3. BU – 946
  4. Bucknell – 863
  5. Lehigh – 850.5
  6. Loyola – 812.5
  7. Colgate – 573
  8. American – 537
  9. Holy Cross – 365
  10. Lafayette – 217

After a meet fraught with technical difficulties and controversial disqualifications, the Navy men and women have claimed another dual team title at the 2024 Patriot League Championships.

The Navy women’s title defense was never in question. The only day they didn’t end with the lead was day one, thanks to a 1-2 podium finish from BU’s divers in the 3-meter event. They quickly regained the lead atop the points ranking and never looked back, leading by 122 points going into the final day.

The final session kicked off with the 1650 freestyle. In the women’s event, Army sophomore Molly Webber hit the wall first (16:44.67). Last year, she swam the 200 fly on the final day, finishing 9th overall. Behind her, Claire Kehley of Bucknell (16:52.20) and Sarah Eldridge of Navy (17:00.83) upgraded their respective 3rd and 4th place finishes from last year.

The Army men were dominant in the mile, sweeping the podium spots. Wes Tate claimed his third individual title of the meet, clocking 15:01.53. His teammates Brice Barrieault (15:09.97) and Ian Tansill (15:12.60) rounded out the podium, helping to propel Army into the lead.

Next up was the 200 back, where Loyola’s Lily Mead defended her title in a close finish (1:56.24) over runner-up Gabi Baldwin of Navy (1:56.53). Baldwin’s teammate Ela Habjan, the 100 backstroke champion, rounded out the podium (1:57.14).

The men’s 200 backstroke was the cause of some delays later on in the meet, but the top finisher Ben Irwin of Navy claimed his third individual title in the 200 back with a dominant swim, breaking the meet record and his own conference record in the process (1:41.06). A pair of Loyola swimmers finished behind him: Henry Mueller (1:43.40) and Joe Hayburn (1:44.01).

America’s Mimi Watts successfully defended her title in the women’s 100 free, completing the sprint sweep after winning the 50 earlier in the meet (49.34). Watts was the only swimmer to break 50 seconds in the final, with Army’s Clara Williams (50.19) and Colgate’s Lucy Art (50.45) rounding out the top three.

A whopping three men got under the meet record of 43.59 in the 100 free, led by Navy’s Jonah Harm (43.47). His teammate Everet Andrew touched second (43.57), narrowly beating out Loyola’s Caleb Kelly (43.58). After this race, Army led by just 16.5 points over Navy.

Army’s Aurelie Migault completed the breaststroke after finishing 2nd in the 200 breast last year. She was victorious here, clocking a dominant 2:11.20 to clear the field by nearly three seconds.

Kohen Rankin (Army) also completed a breaststroke sweep, swimming 1:54.22 to crack the conference record set in 2013, and the meet record set in 2017. He led a quintet of swimmers who touched under the NCAA B-cut of 1:57.44. Joining him on the podium was Army teammate Kalvin Hahn (1:55.89) and Boston University’s Kyle Falkstrom (1:55.98). Army’s lead widened to 53.5 points after that race.

There was a 30 minute delay to dispute a disqualification, but when the women’s 200 fly finally got underway 400 IM champion Sarah Hardy (Lehigh) was victorious, scorching a new best time of 1:58.67 to crack the NCAA B-cut. Her teammate Julia Stevens was in the running to touch second, but faded in the final 50 (1:59.59) and was passed by Caroline Irwin of Navy (1:59.36).

Back in action after a victory in the 200 back, Ben Irwin went two-for-two in his individual events to claim the title in the 200 fly (1:43.93). Teammate Patrick Colwell touched 2nd (1:45.09), followed by Army’s Riley Groves (1:45.25). All three swimmers achieved NCAA B-cuts.

Navy’s diving prowess was on full display in the men’s 3-meter event, as Finnian Gelbach led a Navy sweep of the podium. George Moore and Blake Shaw finished 2nd and 3rd respectively, out of five total Navy divers in the final. That was a major points swing in Navy’s favor, as they led by 42.5 points going into the final relay. At that point, it would have taken a relay disqualification for the Navy men to lose the meet.

The Army women claimed a final relay victory in the 400 free relay (3:19.37) with the quartet of Clara Williams (50.13), Meghan Cole (49.84), Aurelie Migault (49.91) and Molly Webber (49.49). BU upset top seed Navy to place 2nd (3:21.88) with a team of Stella Langenbach (51.16), Han Hoang (50.01), Sydney Sorbello (50.86), and Lara Mitchell (49.85).

To put a bow on their 20th straight team title, the Navy men won the 400 free relay by over a second. Jonah Harm (43.23), Ben Denman-Grimm (43.22), Ben Stankovich (43.16), and Everet Andrew (42.89) combined for the win (2:52.50).

SwimSwam: 2024 Patriot League Champs: Navy Men Claim 20th-Straight Team Title; Navy Women 13th

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