LANCASTER, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's swimming team bookended the first night of the Centennial Conference championship with record-setting relays, part of a successful day that ended with the Bears establishing five new school benchmarks.
Senior William Benn and junior Colin McNamara were part of both record-breaking relays for the Bears, who finished the night in fifth place - and just outside the top three - with 137 points. Swarthmore led the way with 226, while six-time defending champion Gettysburg (187) landed in second. Washington College (146) and host Franklin & Marshall (142) were just ahead of Ursinus.
Freshman Jacob Menzer shattered the previous Ursinus mark en route to a silver medal in the 500 free, and sophomore Travis Venables eclipsed the program record in the 50 free as part of a highlight-filled opening salvo at Franklin & Marshall.
The Bears started the evening session with a bang, setting a new school record in the 200 free relay as senior William Benn, senior Dylan Cooper, junior Colin McNamara, and Venables turned in a 1:25.43 to finish fourth. Cooper, McNamara, and Venables were part of the previous record-setting swim, a 1:25.71 at last year's conference meet. Venables notched another program record with a 20.56 split, the fastest in Ursinus history.
After establishing a new program benchmark with a 4:38.33 in the 500 free prelims, Menzer did himself one better in the evening session. The rookie phenom garnered the silver medal with a 4:34.52, exactly two full seconds ahead of the third-place swimmer and extending his own school record by nearly four seconds. Senior Marcus Wagner, the previous record-holder from 2014, touched the wall in fourth with a 4:39.74; he earned a new collegiate best at 4:39.04 in the prelims.
Freshman Casey Lear won the B final and took ninth with a collegiate-best 4:42.34, more than four seconds faster than his preliminary time, and junior Christopher Barthold nearly matched his own PR from prelims with a 4:47.83 that landed him in 13th.
Sophomore James Callaghan placed 10th in the 200 IM with a personal best 1:55.98, just over half a tick behind the program record accomplished two years ago by Jacob Robinson.
Venables etched his name into the Ursinus annals in the 50 free finals, finishing fifth in 21.24 seconds to edge the old school mark of 21.28 set by John Wieczorek in 2014. Benn established a new PR with a 21.64 in the prelims and finished in 21.68 in the nightcap to place 10th overall, and McNamara (21.80) was 13th.
The Bears ended the night as they started it, with a school record in a relay event. This time, it was Benn, sophomore Maxwell Coulter, McNamara, and Lear notching a 3:28.27 in the 400 medley relay, enough to finish fourth and shave nearly a full second off the previous program mark of 3:29.20 established in 2014.
Day 2 of the CC championship gets underway Saturday at 10 a.m.
