Last Saturday, the men's and women's swimming teams competed in the Seahawk Invitational in St. Mary's City, Md. Both the men's and women's teams were very competitive as they recorded many personal bests and qualifying times.
The men's team was led by a freshman class that had over 10 athletes post personal or season bests. The team's best performance came from Timothy Nam, who competed in the 100 breaststroke. His season-best time of 57.23 qualified him for an NCAA provisional spot.
In the sprint events, freshman Eddy Zandee led a trio of freshmen who raced to career bests in the 50 free. He recorded a time of 21.68, closely followed by Tim Bulakul in 22.90. Alex Treiger rounded out the three freshmen with a time of 23.61.
In the 100 fly, freshman Preston Youngdahl finished the 100 fly in 51.47 seconds. This time was over two seconds faster than his previous best. Freshman Alex Kim closely followed with another season-best, completing the race in 52.26 seconds, over three seconds faster than his personal best.
In the 200 free, freshman Christopher Price turned in the team's fastest time of the season, finishing in 1:44.36. Freshman Daniel Raynard finished the 200 IM in a season best time of 1:55.63. This time gave him the fastest time on the team this season by over three seconds.
Freshman Markus Kowalsky clocked in at 1:59.17 in the 200 back. His time also gave him a personal best of over two seconds. Freshman Patrick Lynch responded with a personal best time in the 400 IM with a 4:10.82.
Three freshman Jays competed in the 500 free, where all finished with a season or personal best. Matt Watson swam a personal best in 4:40.67, almost 12 seconds faster than his previous fastest time and the fastest for the team this season. Kyle Smith finished in 4:53.68, followed by Jonathan Gordon in 4:59.67.
The women's team kept up with the men's team; as many records and personal bests were also broken on the day. The women's team competed in its last meet of the season before the NCAA Championships on March 18.
Sophomore Megan Heslin competed in the 200 fly and finished with a time of 2:06.07. This time gave her a new school record in the event and qualified her provisionally for the NCAA Championships. Four other swimmers posted provisional qualifying marks or personal bests in the race.
Sophomore Regan Cuddy swam the fastest race of her life, in a time of 27.50 in the 50 free. She followed clocking in at 2:07.38 in the 200 free. Her time was over two seconds faster than her previous best. Senior Megan Zepp responded by knocking more than a second off her career best finishing in an NCAA provisional-qualifying time of 1:55.84.
Freshman Heidi Culver and junior Robin Schaffer both raced to provisional qualifying times in the 200 back, with times of 2:06.07 and 2:08.28, respectively. Schaffer also qualified in the 100 back with a time of 59.46.
Junior Taylor Mann responded with a season-best time in the 100 fly with a time of 1:08.16. Cuddy also raced in the 100 free with another season-best of 58.60. Freshman Meghan Bresnahan posted the final provisional time with a personal best of 2:25.03 in the 200 breast.
