COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Sophomore Jacob Menzer and Casey Lear combined to sweep the four individual freestyle events as the Ursinus College men's swimming team opened up the 2017-18 season with a resounding 120-82 Centennial Conference victory over Dickinson on Saturday.
Lear won the 100 and 200 free and Menzer claimed first place in the 500 and 1000 for the Bears. Freshman Michael Prior was impressive in his collegiate debut, taking the 200 back and swimming a leg of the first-place 400 medley relay.
Ursinus opened with an easy victory in the 400 medley relay, as Prior joined sophomore Maxwell Coulter, senior Colin McNamara, and junior Travis Venables to post a mark of 3:37.81, nearly five full seconds clear of Dickinson's second-place unit.
Menzer followed with a dominating performance in the 1000 free, clearing the rest of the field by more than 30 seconds with a clocking of 10:30.95. Senior Christopher Barthold finished third in 10:30.95.
Lear's first win of the day came in the next event, the 200 free, where his 1:47.96 edged out the Red Devils' Graham Novitch by .71 seconds. Junior Daniel Becker (1:49.19) was third and sophomore Jared Krawetz fourth (1:49.66).
Venables was first to touch the wall in the 50 free, posting a 22.22 to nip McNamara's 22.42. McNamara got his own individual victory in the 200 fly, where his 2:01.40 was more than two seconds ahead of junior Jonathan Myers (2:03.52).
Lear made it a freestyle sprint double in the 100, clocking a 49.04 with Krawetz in second at 49.67.
Prior placed second in the 200 IM (2:03.40), where junior James Callaghan (2:05.63) took third. The rookie recorded his first individual win two races later, rolling to first place in the 200 back (1:57.14).
Menzer closed the individual proceedings with another commanding triumph in the 500 free; his 4:43.72 was nearly 17 seconds faster than Barthold's second-place effort.
The Bears continue their season with a tri-meet at York (Pa.) on Saturday, November 4.