WEST CHESTER, Pa. – A bevy of season bests highlighted the Ursinus College men's swimming team's performance on the first day of action at West Chester's Golden Rams Classic on Friday.
The grouping of junior Travis Venables, sophomore Casey Lear, senior Colin McNamara, and sophomore Jared Krawetz lowered their top 200 free relay mark by nearly two seconds with a 1:26.25, moving up two spots to third on the Centennial Conference performance list.
Menzer registered a season-best 4:41.76 to vault to second in the conference and place fifth overall among 27 swimmers. Lear trimmed more than 14 seconds off his season low with a 4:51.47, while junior Johnathan Myers was right behind at 4:52.80. Junior Kevin Gill logged a 4:53.75, and senior Chris Barthold finished in 4:54.27.
Freshman Michael Prior was impressive in the 200 IM, dropping almost five seconds off his personal best to place sixth overall in 1:58.46, good for eighth in the CC. Junior James Callaghan (2:02.97), junior Devin Nielsen (2:03.41), sophomore Maxwell Coulter (2:04.10), and junior Reid Luksic (2:11.09) all recorded their top marks of the season.
Venables tallied a season low in the 50 free (22.02), where he finished eighth. McNamara and Krawetz each finished in 22.20, both season bests, while freshman Matthew Buccella had a P.R. of 22.67.
Prior teamed with Coulter, McNamara, and Lear to place fifth in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:33.53, the Bears' best of the year. Menzer, Nielsen, Myers, and Venables took seventh in 3:41.40.
The Bears conclude the Golden Rams Classic with the first of two sessions at 10 a.m. Sunday.