Men's swimming places second at ECAC tourney
The ECAC men's swimming and diving championships came and went this past weekend at the University of Pittsburgh, with Hopkins taking second place. Head Hopkins swimming coach George Kennedy was named Coach of the Meet. The ECACs, which featured Division I, II and III teams, was the Blue Jays' final showcase before the NCAA Championships in a few weeks.
"The NCAA entries were sent Monday, so this was the last time to qualify" Coach Kennedy said. Thus, the Blue Jay swimmers knew the importance of this meet.
The three-day meet took place from Friday to Saturday. The Jays got off to a good start on the first day, finishing in third place with 123 points. Hopkins won the first event of the meet, the 200-yard freestyle relay, with sophomore Chris Whelan, senior Brad Test, sophomore John Thomas and freshman Brian Keeley finishing with a time of 1:23.72. Keeley would follow the strong performance up later in the 200-yard individual medley, finishing fourth. In the 50-yard freestyle, Test finished in first place in a scorching 20.85 seconds.
The Jays finished day one with a second-place finish behind Pittsburgh in the 400 medley relay, with Thomas, senior Matt Fedderly, sophomore Spiros Moisiades and Test finishing two seconds off the pace with a time of 3:22.29.
"Overall I was happy with where I was individually," Test said. "I was pretty disappointed in the 200 freestyle relay, because we were trying to qualify Chris Whelan, but we came up a little short."
The second day brought even more good fortune for the Blue Jay swimmers, as they moved up from third place to second place by the end of the day. Hopkins started off with a fifth-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay, with sophomore Neil Mahoney, Fedderly, sophomore Teddy Bulakul and Keeley finishing in 1:34.12. Following that performance, junior Colin Kleinguetl finished sixth in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:06.96, his season best time. Moisiades then swam a career best 51.17 in the 100 butterfly to finish eighth. Test then continued his individual success from day one, finishing second in the 200-yard freestyle clocking in at 1:41.75 and narrowly missing out on first place. Hopkins then took fourth through sixth places in the 100-yard breaststroke, with junior John Kegelman, Fedderly and Keeley finishing with times of 57.44, 57.62 and 57.64 respectively. To finish the day, Hopkins received two very strong first place finishes to push the Jays into second place. Thomas finished first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 49:75, and the 800 freestyle relay team consisting of Mahoney, junior David Postetter, Test and Thomas finished in 6:48.81, three seconds ahead of second-place Harvard.
"The NCAA entries were sent Monday, so this was the last time to qualify" Coach Kennedy said. Thus, the Blue Jay swimmers knew the importance of this meet.
The three-day meet took place from Friday to Saturday. The Jays got off to a good start on the first day, finishing in third place with 123 points. Hopkins won the first event of the meet, the 200-yard freestyle relay, with sophomore Chris Whelan, senior Brad Test, sophomore John Thomas and freshman Brian Keeley finishing with a time of 1:23.72. Keeley would follow the strong performance up later in the 200-yard individual medley, finishing fourth. In the 50-yard freestyle, Test finished in first place in a scorching 20.85 seconds.
The Jays finished day one with a second-place finish behind Pittsburgh in the 400 medley relay, with Thomas, senior Matt Fedderly, sophomore Spiros Moisiades and Test finishing two seconds off the pace with a time of 3:22.29.
"Overall I was happy with where I was individually," Test said. "I was pretty disappointed in the 200 freestyle relay, because we were trying to qualify Chris Whelan, but we came up a little short."
The second day brought even more good fortune for the Blue Jay swimmers, as they moved up from third place to second place by the end of the day. Hopkins started off with a fifth-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay, with sophomore Neil Mahoney, Fedderly, sophomore Teddy Bulakul and Keeley finishing in 1:34.12. Following that performance, junior Colin Kleinguetl finished sixth in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:06.96, his season best time. Moisiades then swam a career best 51.17 in the 100 butterfly to finish eighth. Test then continued his individual success from day one, finishing second in the 200-yard freestyle clocking in at 1:41.75 and narrowly missing out on first place. Hopkins then took fourth through sixth places in the 100-yard breaststroke, with junior John Kegelman, Fedderly and Keeley finishing with times of 57.44, 57.62 and 57.64 respectively. To finish the day, Hopkins received two very strong first place finishes to push the Jays into second place. Thomas finished first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 49:75, and the 800 freestyle relay team consisting of Mahoney, junior David Postetter, Test and Thomas finished in 6:48.81, three seconds ahead of second-place Harvard.
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