Loyola Men & Women Cruise To Dominant Victories At Thomas Murphy Invitational

2023 Thomas Murphy Invitational

• October 27-29, 2023
• Baltimore, Md.
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results

Courtesy: Loyola Athletics

BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland men’s and women’s swimming and diving both won their respective team competitions at the 2023 Thomas Murphy Invitational, and the Greyhounds closed out the weekend with two school records, three pool records and five meet records.

Overall, the Greyhounds knocked down 14 meet standards, nine pool marks and eight school records.

The women’s team scored 3,164.50 points to beat Towson (2,302), UMBC (1,897.5) and Johns Hopkins (1,519), and the men’s team piled up 3,633 points to top the Tigers (2,75.5), Blue Jays (1,682) and Retrievers (1,641.5).

Heard Of This Guy?

• Henry Mueller broke a 21-year old pool record in the 200 backstroke by a person who could charitably be described as a household name. Mueller’s time of 1:44.68 took over a second off the previous record of 1:46.15 set in 2002 by a then 16-year old Baltimore native named Michael Phelps.
• Mueller won the event in pool- and meet-record time, and his teammate, Joe Hayburn, was also under Phelps’ record time, finishing second in 1:45.69.
• Mueller’s time is the fastest in the Patriot League this season and No. 23 in NCAA Division I.

Ridiculous Relays

• Loyola won eight of the 10 relays contested Friday through Sunday in the invitational with the men going 5-for-5.
• Sunday night, the men’s and women’s 400 freestyle relay teams both took down pool, meet and school records with their swims.
• Faye Moser, Avery Stimmel, Maddie Testa and Charley Tulio put together a 400-yard relay in 3:23.40 to win the women’s race, while Patrick Hayburn, Caleb Kelly, Mueller and Max Verheyen swam 2:57.80 to win on the men’s side.

Mead Wins Two More

• Lily Mead capped her meet with two wins on Sunday night, winning the 200 backstroke in a meet-record time of 1:57.85 and then breaking another meet mark in the 200 breaststroke, swimming 2:16.18 for the victory. Both of those times rank No. 1 in the Patriot League this season.
• Overall, Mead won three individual races in the invitational, also capturing first in the 400 individual medley with a time that is tops in the Patriot League and No. 25 in the nation.
• She was named the Female Swimmer of the Meet after its conclusion.

Fast In The Free

• The women’s team took the top three spots in the 100 freestyle, and the men’s team went one-two in its version.
• Moser won the women’s race in 50.92 seconds, with Stimmel just three-hundredths of a second behind. Tulio came in third with a time of 51.32.
• Kelly won the men’s race in 44.26,a nd Tyler Knurek was second in 45.40.

Flying To Wins

• Riley Fried was a winner for the Greyhounds in the 200 butterfly, winning the women’s race in 2:03.79, while Laura Latham, Kaitlyn Witkop and Alana Andress were third, fifth and sixth for Loyola.
• Cameron Shinnick had a first-place swim in the men’s 200 butterfly, touching the wall in 1:49.11 to edge teammate Harry Hearn by 55-hundredths of a second.

Going Deep

• Loyola’s depth in events was evident all weekend, and it happened again on Sunday.
• Alex Plavoukos took second in the 1,650 freestyle for the men, and he was followed by Matt Gray and Jonah Goodman in third and fourth.
• Michael Gozdan, Zach Eisenmann, Verheyen and Michael Venit wernt third through sixth for Loyola in the men’s 200 breaststroke.

Scholarship Honors

• The Loyola swimming and diving program annually awards the Thomas Murphy Scholarship on the final day of the meet, honoring “Murph,” the late Loyola coach and alum who coached the team for more than 25 years.
• This year’s recipient of the scholarship was was junior Lia Bottone.

Coming Up

• Loyola will return to the Mangione Pool water on Friday afternoon when the Greyhounds host American University and Colgate University in Patriot League swims.

Courtesy: Towson Athletics

BALTIMORE, Md. – The Towson University men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams both finished second place at the Thomas Murphy Invitational, hosted by Loyola, at Mangione Pool.

Loyola finished first on the women’s side with 3164.5 points. The Tigers finished second with 4477.5 points. UMBC (3539) and Johns Hopkins (3201) rounded out the group.

On the men’s side, the Greyhounds finished with 3633 points. The Tigers, second with 2175.5 points while Johns Hopkins (1682) and UMBC (1641.5) rounded out the pack.

Finals Day Three Highlights:

• Bridget Thomas finished second in the 1650 free with a time of 16:55.11, less than a tenth of a second behind the event winner.
• Teddy Ament finished fifth in the event with a time of 16:07.61. Dean Blakely (16:10.59) and Stephen McDonald (16:10.62) finished just behind. Christian Johnson was eight (16:12.63).
• Addie Scott (2:01.82), Ally Frame (2:03.01) and Maddie Frick (2:03.84) finished 2-4-5 in the 200 back.
• Sean Colson took bronze in the 200 back with a time of 1:46.71.
• Janine Murphy finished fifth in the 100 free with a time of 52.30.
• Luke Schwar (45.81), Daniel McLaughlin (45.82), Benjamin Eischeid (45.84) finished 3-4-5 in the 100 free.
• Britney Denny took third in the 200 breast with a time of 2:20.41.
• Brian Benzing’s time of 1:57.97 in the 200 breast set a meet record in the event.
• Samantha Casolo (2:06.30) and Lizzy Jones (2:07.23) finished second and fourth in the 200 fly.
• Theo Dietrich finished fourth in the 200 fly (1:50.73).
• Scott, Marissa Kleckner, Victoria Dichak and Murphy finished fourth in the 400-free relay (3:30.28).
• Schwar, Benzing, Eischeid and McLaughlin finished second in the event (3:01.27).
• Shannon Parrau took home the top spot on the 1-meter board with a score of 290.40, marking an NCAA Zone cut in the event.
• Aidan Clark took second on the 3-meter board, scoring 238.35 points.

Superlatives:
Shannon Parrua was named the women’s diver of the meet while Brian Benzing was named the men’s swimmer of the meet.

On Deck:
The next stop for the Tigers is Fairfax, Virginia for the Patriot Invitational, hosted by George Mason, from Thursday, November 16 through Saturday, November 18.

Courtesy: UMBC Athletics

BALTIMORE – For the first time, four Baltimore schools convened in an aquatic center, as UMBC, Johns Hopkins and Towson visited Loyola-Maryland’s Mangione Pool for the 2023 Thomas Murphy Invitational.

Retriever freshman diver Andy Vines highlighted an outstanding early season effort by the young Retrievers, as he won both the 1-meter and 3-meter boards and was named the Diver of the Meet. On Saturday, Vines captured the 1-meter diving completion with a score of 276.80. He came back Sunday and easily outdistanced the competition on the higher board. His sterling morning score was 314.80 and he captured the title by nearly 50 points with a total of 287.35 in the finals.

“The divers had a great weekend,” said Head Diving Coach Jeff Fisher. We saw personal bests in total points per dive and several new dives performed. Andy was only a few points away from two NCAA Zones cuts. We are making great progress at this point in the season and I am looking forward to more!”

In the pool, junior Oliver Gassmann set a meet record and triumphed in the 100 yard butterfly, posting a mark of 47.20.

“What a great weekend of Baltimore swimming and diving,” said Head Swimming Coach Matt Donovan. “All four teams really pushed each other in every event. I am extremely impressed with how we performed. The number of season and lifetime bests that we put up these last three days in incredibly impressive. It’s a great time to be a Dawg.”

Senior Dani Nicusan earned silvers in both of the breaststroke events.

Friday’s Highlights

• Senior Bode Neale placed fourth in the 50 yard freestyle (20.95).
• In a stacked field, senior Dani Nicusan was edged for third place and finished fifth in the 200 IM with a time of 1:50.83.

Saturday’s Highlights

• Vines set a meet record by recording a mark of 276.80 and capturing the 1-meter diving completion.
• Freshman James Tao captured third place in the 400 IM, touching the wall in 4:04.18.
• From the morning prelims to the finals, Nicusan improved from fourth to second place in the 100 yard breaststroke, touching at 54.05.

Sunday’s Highlights

• Nicusan improved by nearly six seconds from the prelims to the finals in the 200 yard breaststroke and earned silver in the time of 1:59.39.

The host Greyhounds won the meet with 3633 points, followed by Towson (2175.5),  Johns Hopkins (1682) and UMBC (1641.5).

UMBC has a week off before taking on host VMI, along with America East foe NJIT and UNC Asheville on Saturday, Nov. 11 in Lexington, Va.

Courtesy: Johns Hopkins Athletics

BALTIMORE, MD – Junior Kristin Cornish grabbed her second win of the weekend on the third and final day of the Thomas Murphy Invitational Sunday at Loyola. The Blue Jays, the only Division III team competing at the meet, finished in fourth place with 1519 points.

Cornish and freshman Julia Tuinman kicked off the final session by grabbing first and third for the Blue Jays in the 1650 Free. Cornish clocked in with a winning time of 16:55.03 and beat Towson’s Bridget Thomas by just eight-hundredths of a second. Tuinman then took third place with a time of 17:18.50. Both Cornish and Tuinman’s times are NCAA B times.

Senior Makenzie Higgins followed with a seventh-place finish in the A Final of the 200 Back in 2:04.87. Freshman Kimberly Lan finished in fifth in the B Final with a time of 2:10.11, while senior Caroline Storen placed sixth in 2:11.54.

Sophomore Alex Watson swam to a sixth-place finish in the A Final of the 100 Free with a time of 52.54. Sophomore Claire Han finished in eighth place in 53.13. Freshman Elizabeth Cohen placed second in the B Final in 53.20. Sophomore Alia Basler won the C Final with a finals time of 53.43. In the 200 Breast, junior Taylor Rohovit placed fifth in the A Final with a time of 2:21.35. Junior Michelle Liu finished in eighth (2:22.85) and sophomore Rachel Davis placed ninth (2:24.33). Sophomore Katherine Chelus won the B Final in 2:25.43.

Freshman Kate Petitt took eighth place in the A Final of the 200 Fly as she touched in 2:10.35. Freshman Ayden Min took second in the B Final with a time of 2:12.96.

Hopkins finished up the weekend with second and third place finishes in the 400 Free Relay. Lan, Basler, Rohovit and Tuinman turned in a time of 3:30.04. Finishing in third place were Watson, Han, Cohen and Higgins with a time of 3:30.19.

Hopkins returns to action in two weeks when the Blue Jays host the Georgetown Hoyas on Saturday, November 11.