Hopkins captures bronze in Charlotte, N.C.

The Hopkins men’s swimming team is known for the prestige surrounding the program. Just like all Hopkins sports, the men’s swimmers are athletes that are known nationally as a force to be reckoned with. This past weekend, they made that very clear in Charlotte, N.C., where both the men's and women's teams competed in the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships. The team has only dropped one match since the start of the calendar year, which happened earlier in the season against the Midshipmen of the Naval Academy.

In preparation for the upcoming NCAA championships in mid-March, the team travelled to Charlotte to compete against other schools such as Wingate and Queens University in one of the toughest weekends of the season. Facing some stiff competition, the Blue Jays ended up with a bronze medal finish in Charlotte, finishing behind Wingate, who won their seventh straight title, and Queens who competed well to snatch the silver.

For Hopkins, freshmen led the way en route to their bronze medal finish with a few very impressive performances. Andrew Greenhalgh led the charge Hopkins made on the final day by winning a silver medal in the 1650 free competition. He also won a silver in the 1000 free previously during the championship. To go along with Greenhalgh’s big day in the pool, three other Blue Jays finished with NCAA provisional times. Josh Hughes, another freshman, finished in 16:02.59, behind Greenhalgh’s 15:34.45. Following Hughes was sophomore Billy Gravely, who placed sixth by about half of a second behind Hughes. Finally, another talented performance was displayed by sophomore Michael McGoldrick, who finished in seventh place with a time of 16:12.91.

Gravely commented on the versatile talent that the team possesses. "Considering that a majority of our faster swimmers, those continuing on to compete at the NCAA Championship, weren't fully rested for the meet, I can say that the meet went very well," he said. "Even though all of the times weren't personal bests, I'm very confident in the team's performance moving forward."

In the B final of the 200 back, junior Ryan Cunningham finished in sixth (14th overall), while freshman Patrick Flynn followed behind Cunningham in eighth place. Both swimmers posted provisional times. In the 100 Free B final, senior Anthony Lordi came out on top a winner with a provisional time of 45.48, and in a close finish senior Will Kimball came in fifth, just .36 seconds behind Lordi.

In the 200 meter breast competition, freshmen continued to help pace the Blue Jays, as Scott Sterrett finished second with a time of 2:04.87. Senior Joe Acquaviva showed a gutsy performance for the Jays as well, finishing in third with a time of 2:08.92. To finish off the day for Hopkins, a few more swimmers turned in impressive performances to contribute toward the bronze medal. Junior Greg Kogut came out a winner on top of his own teammate in the 200 Fly B Final, finishing less than two seconds before his freshman teammate Muhammad Hudhud. Finally, in the 400 Free Relay, Kimball, Lordi, Cunningham and freshman Evan Holder came in fifth place.

The most impressive part of the day for Hopkins was dealing with adversity. Needing a big final day of the tournament, Hopkins went out and put up 268 points to get the bronze. Teams willing to fight through such adverse conditions do not falter down the stretch in seasons. This comes at the perfect time then for Hopkins, as the NCAA Championships start on March 19 in Indianapolis. Much will be expected of the team, but there is little doubt that they will perform well.

"We have trained with consistent intensity and focus," Gravely said. "Great leadership has allowed us to form a very close-knit group. Both the mental and physical preparation that the team has put forth this season will surely show at the (NCAA) Championship, and hopefully result in a top three finish for both squads."

The Jays will look to build off of this successful weekend in North Carolina before traveling to Indiana to face off against the toughest opponents the team has faced all season. With a little less than a month before the championships, Hopkins will be training and working hard to take home a Division III title.