COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Just over 12 hours after returning from their winter trip to Florida, the Ursinus College men's swimming team cruised to a 127-67 victory over visiting Cabrini in its first dual-meet action since early December.
Ursinus kicked off their competition with a victory from the foursome of junior William Benn, junior Spencer Collopy, senior Christian Hoops, and freshman Travis Venables in the 200-yard medley relay. Senior James Marrone joined freshmen Maxwell Coulter, James Callaghan, and Devin Nielsen to place second.
Sophomore Christopher Barthold swam away with the mile freestyle, his clocking of 17:34.41 outpacing Cavaliers runner-up Sean Tallon by a full 1:42.16.
Junior Marcus Wagner captured the 200-yard freestyle in 1:47.65, more than five seconds in front of Cabrini's top performer. Freshman Johnathan Myers was third, and junior Brett Felgoise placed fourth. Senior Nicholas DiPalo was the 50-yard freestyle champion (23.17), where Collopy was runner-up and sophomore Carl Christoph landed third.
Freshman James Callaghan spearheaded a 1-2-3 finish for the Bears in the 400-yard IM, clocking a 4:30.60 to touch the wall in front of classmates Kevin Gill and Coulter in second and third, respectively.
Sophomore Colin McNamara was first to touch the wall in the 200-yard butterfly, leading the pack with a clocking of 2:01.47. Senior Alec Heckman finished second, just over two-tenths of a tick in front of Myers in third.
DiPalo notched a second individual title in the 100-yard freestyle, registering a time of 51.60 to lead another 1-2-3 Bears effort, this time with Collopy and Felgoise in tow.
Cabrini's Todd Walker ended the home team's attempt to win every event with a victory in the 200-yard backstroke. Senior Henry Nonack finished second for Ursinus, and freshman Thomas Bantley landed in third.
Junior Dylan Cooper won the 500-yard freestyle in 5:02.62, with Venables placing second and freshman Daniel Becker winding up in third.
The Bears went to exhibition scoring for the final two events. Nielsen emerged victorious in the 200-yard breaststroke, an all-Bear affair that also included senior Keith Larkin (second) and freshman Reid Luksic (third).
The group of Becker, Myers, Benn, and Venables touched first in the 400-yard freestyle relay, finishing less than half a second in front of Bantley, Coulter, Wagner, and McNamara.
The Bears are right back in the pool tomorrow with a non-conference dual at Albright.