GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's swimming team could hardly have asked for a better start to the Centennial Conference championship, shattering the program record in both relays during the first session at Gettysburg.
Freshman Daniel Mueser was involved in both the 200 medley and 800 free relay for the Bears, who racked up 86 points to end opening night in second place behind defending champion Swarthmore. Junior Jacob Menzer aso broke his own school record with his 200 split to lead off the 800 free relay.
Sophomore Michael Prior, senior Maxwell Coulter, Mueser, and freshman Ryan Carkhuff clocked a 1:33.22 to outdistance the previous school record by nearly two full seconds. They finished third, slightly more than half a second off the podium.
Mueser came back shortly thereafter to swim the second leg of the 800 free relay alongside juniors Menzer, Casey Lear, and Jared Krawetz. The distance grouping finished in a time of 6:50.68, once again almost two seconds faster than the former program mark. This time, the record came with a bronze medal attached, and Menzer's 1:40.34 split was more than a second quicker than his own Ursinus record.
Seniors Travis Venables and Devin Nielsen joined sophomore Matthew Buccella and junior Casey Lear to place third in the 200 medley relay B final (1:37.73), while senior Daniel Becker, Prior, senior James Callaghan, and Carkhuff were third in the B final of the 800 free relay (7:02.37).
The championship resumes Friday at 10 a.m. with prelims in selected events.