NCAA Qualifier, Patriot League Record Lead Navy in Win Over George Washington

Freshman Patrick Colwell broke a Navy school record and Patriot League record in the 100 fly, and junior Martina Thomas posted an NCAA qualifying time of 1:45.06 in the 200 free to highlight Navy’s win over George Washington University on Sunday.

Both the Navy men and women defeated George Washington, with the men winning 110-55 and the women winning 162-64. With this win, both Navy teams improved their record to 3-1, while this was George Washington’s first dual meet of the season. For Navy, this was an opportunity for its swimmers to qualify for NCAAs, while George Washington used the opportunity to get some racing under their belt.

Men’s Meet:

Colwell topped the field in the 100 fly, posting a time of 46.87. That time took down the previous mark of 47.01, set by Jonathan Debaugh at the 2016 Patriot League Championships. It also improves on the 47.41 that Colwell swam just a day ago during Navy’s meet against Loyola University (Maryland).

In addition to Colwell’s record, multiple swimmers posted NCAA ‘B’ cut times at this meet.

Freshman Jake Evert was a double winner for Navy, sweeping the sprint freestyles. In the 50 free he was the only swimmer to break 20, finishing in 19.66. He also picked up the win in the 100 free in 43,71. Both are NCAA ‘B’ cuts.

In the 200 free, Navy senior Daniel Cook picked up the win by almost 5 seconds with an NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 1:35.95.

Navy’s Derek Nguyen and Dean Nguyen swept the top two spots in the 100 breast, both under the NCAA ‘B’ cut of 54.27.

Picking up a dominant win for George Washington was sophomore Zach Hu, who topped the field by over 13 seconds in the 1,000 free with a winning time of 9:36.26. Also picking up a win for George Washington was sophomore Karol Mlynarczyk, who posted an NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 47.44 to win the 100 back.

Other Men’s Meet Winners:

• Senior Micah Oh of Navy won the men’s 200 fly in 1:43.59, well under the NCCA ‘B’ cut of 1:46.69.
• Navy senior Dominick Wallace cleared the NCAA ‘B’ cut of 1:45.04 in the 200 back with his winning time of 1:42.03.

Women’s Meet:

Navy junior Martina Thomas posted two wins and two NCAA ‘B’ cut times in the 200  and 500 frees. In the 200 free, her time of 1:45.06 currently ranks her 17h nationally. Usually, swimmers ranked 36-40 earn invites to NCAAs, so Thomas should be a lock to make NCAAs in that event. Thomas also posted a ‘B’ cut in the 500, winning in 4:45.35, which ranks her 44th nationally.

Also picking up a win and ‘B’ cut was Navy junior Kelly Huffer, who finished first in the 200 fly with a time of 1:57.68.

Other winners for Navy included freshman Rachel Schlemmer, who kicked off the meet with a win in the 1,000, posting a time of 9:53.08, Junior Alayna Nielson in the 100 back (54.83), and sophomore Elly Deas, who was the only swimmer to break 2:00 in the 200, picking up the win in  1:59.26, just off of her best of 1:59.00.

Other Women’s Meet Winners:

• Navy sophomore Gabi Baldwin won the 200 free with a personal best time of 1:48.50.
• Freshman Riley Gavigan topped the field in the 100 breast with a best time of 1:01.87, while sophomore Libby Miller finished first in the 200 in 2:14.54, just off her lifetime best of 2:14.06.
• Senior Ally Michaels picked up a win for Navy in the 100 fly with a time of 56.44.
• Senior Andrea Ho picked up a win for George Washington in the 200 IM (2:08.08). That’s a new best time for her.