Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Lafayette
Black Knights Pick Up Two Patriot League Road Wins
January 19, 2014 | Swimming
Jan. 19, 2014
HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Army swimming and diving team’s each picked up two Patriot League wins on Saturday afternoon when they traveled to Hamilton, N.Y., for a tri-meet with Colgate and Lafayette, held at Lineberry Natatorium. The Black Knight men (6-3, 5-1 Patriot League) came out on top over the Leopards 176-84 and defeated the Raiders 192-69. Meanwhile, on the women’s side, Army (5-4, 3-3) bested Colgate, 169-130 and beat out Lafayette, 242-52. In addition, the women’s 200-yard free relay team of Ariana Bullard, Molly Mucciarone, Grace Hamilton and Megan Grier ended the meet with a Lineberry pool record of 1:36.26. The foursome broke the previous pool record of 1:36.87, set by Bucknell in 1993.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our women’s team and they success they had in today’s meet,” said Army head coach Mickey Wender. “The women came down here on a long road trip today and competed their hearts out against two very well coached and talented teams. Coming out today and facing the Patriot League winner from two years ago and swimming with heart and character, I couldn’t be more proud. Overall, it was a breakthrough day for both our men and women’s team and I am proud of the attitude, effort and enthusiasm shown today.”
The Army men swept five events on Saturday including the 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard butterfly, 200-yard breaststroke and 500-yard freestyle. In addition, the Black Knights took first in six races versus league competitors.
Starting with the 200 free, junior Will Viana posted a time of 1:44.76, leading senior Daniel Ruckman who touched the wall at 1:45.13 and junior Sean Regan who clocked in at 1:45.83.
Sophomore Zach Blankenbeker led a sweep in the 200 fly clocking in at 1:53.53, followed by freshman Daniel Mo (1:55.21) and junior Casey Woundenberg (1:55.38). Woundenberg also took first in the 500 free with a time of 4:44.65 followed by Blankenbeker who touched the wall at 4:48.67 and Matt Kane who rounded out the sweep by posting a time of 4:52.34.
Sophomore Sam Mo came out on top of all swimmers in the 200 breast clocking in at 2:08.53. Mo was followed by freshman Grayson Whitten who posted a time of 2:10.30 and freshman Nick Bergstein who finished in third with a time of 2:10.63.
Rounding out the sweeps for Army, freshman Nick Marks took the gold in the 100 fly recording a time of 52.28, leading sophomore Austin Kong (52.63) and freshman Bryan Panaccione (52.66).
Freshman Clay Harmon and Kane went one-two in the 1650 free to open the meet. Harmon posted a time of 16:32.32, while Kane came through with a time of 16:51.64. Sam Mo (52.64) and Panaccione (53.17) snagged first and third-place, respectively, in the 100-yard back, while sophomore Alex Dempsey (1:56.18) and Dan Mo (1:58.42) also took first and third-place in the 200 back, respectively.
Freshman Devin McCall and senior Daniel Ruckman rounded out the individual wins for Army, McCall taking the gold with a time of 47.94 in the 100 free while Ruckman took first off the 3-meter board with a score of 126.74.
The Black Knight men also picked up first and second-place laurels in the 4x400 meter relay. Junior Will Viana, junior Michael Dustin, junior Tyler Sowell and junior Joon Chung topped all teams with a time of 3:27.54, followed by teammates, Same Mo, sophomore Austin Kong, sophomore Colin Kanzari and sophomore Chris Szekely who took second posting a time of 3:32.14.
The Army women also had an impressive showing against Colgate and Lafayette with three sweeps in the 100 fly and the 1-meter and 3-meter boards.
Freshman Danielle Nuszkowski opened the individual races for women’s meet in the 1650 free, recording a time of 17:52.94. Classmate Molly Mucciarone also had a first place showing in the 50 free posting a time of 24.32. Mucciarone also contributed to the three man sweep in the 100 fly finishing second with a time of 58.20, led by freshman Ariana Bullard (56.63) and rounded out by freshman Rachel Kim who took third with a time of 1:00.48.
Senior Rita Snyder led all divers off the 1-meter board scoring 242.54 points, followed by senior classmate Danielle Ullman (239.69) and junior Maggie Churchill (217.12). Off the 3-meter board, Churchill took the gold scoring 244.95 points followed by senior captain Breawna Davis who scored 232.27 and Ullman who finished in third-place with a score of 226.19.
Bullard rounded out the first place showings for the Army women with a time of 2:05.21 in the 200 fly, followed by sophomore Shannon Rogers who posted a time of 2:12.97.
The Black Knights will return to action next Saturday to take on Boston University, American and George Mason in Fairfax, Va., before heading to Annapolis, Md., for the Navy Invitational in the beginning of February.
