Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
University of Pittsburgh
Army has Solid Performance in Season Opener
September 23, 2023 | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving
PITTSBURGH, PA. – The Army West Point men's and women's swimming and diving teams had solid performances in their season opener against Pitt. Senior Aurelie Migault finished first in the 100 and 200 Breast, and sophomore Brice Barrieault won gold in the 800 Free and second in the 400 Free.
The Men's Meet
Army had a strong performance in their season opener opposite Pitt. The Black Knights had 12 top-two finishes, as well as having top finishes in the first five events. Sophomore Brice Barrieault won the 800 Free with a time of 8:40.71, Nathan Jao finished second in the 200 Free (1:54.77), Joey Kling finished first in the 100 Back with a final time of 58.16 and sophomore Kohen Rankin earned silver in the 100 Breast (1:04.35).
Junior George Glover VII finished second in the 200 Fly with a final time of 2:10.05, teammate Jack Mowery earned bronze (2:11.40). In the 200 Back, senior Sam Wesley finished second with a time of 2:08.00. Wesley also finished third in the 100 Breast with a time of 58.41.
Army's Owen Harlow finished in the top two in the 50 and 100 Free. Harlow earned gold in the 50 Free (23.49) and second in the 100 Free with a final time of 52.32. Freshman Kalvin Hahn finished placed second in the 200 Breast with a time of 2:21.46. Wes Tate, Owen Harlow, Thomas Hadji, and Nathan Jao were a part of the first-place relay team in the 400 Free Relay, winning with a time of 3:28.48.
The Women's Meet
The Army West Point women's swim team had several solid performances in their meet against Pitt. The Black Knights had seven top-two finishers. Senior Aurelie Migault won gold in the 100 and 200 Breast with times of 1:11.61 and 2:35.97 respectively.
Sophomore Molly Webber earned gold in the 800 Free (9:14.56), Melinda Zhang finished second in the 200 Fly with a time of 2:21.49, Meghan Cole earned silver in the 50 Free with a final time of 26.69, and Layne Peterson placed second in the 200 Back (2:21.05). Peterson also finished third in the 100 Back with a final time of 1:04.82.
Army's Tiana Mescher and Grace Wagner finished second and third with times of 27.43 and 27.59 respectively. Sophomore Catriona Gilmore earned bronze in the 200 IM (2:28.03). Avery Lord also finished fourth in the 200 IM with a final time of 2:28.51. Aurelie Migault, Clara Williams, Melinda Zhang, and Molly Webber were a part of the third-place finishing 200 Free Relay team, finishing with a final time of 3:59.50.
For complete results, click HERE.
Cadet's Corner
"The meet was a really good opportunity to get up and race for the first time this season without feeling that intense pressure of a short course dual meet. We got to get a feel for our strokes and got some long course reps in against hard competition which felt like the perfect way to start off our season." – Senior Aurelie Migault
Coach's Corner
"I was impressed with how the team competed today against a very talented and well-coached Pitt team. In the college season, we don't typically get a lot of chances to race long course, so it was fun to kick things off with a long course meet.
We have taken our time in training to start the season and have prioritized laying a solid foundation for the full year ahead - rather than rushing into our more specific training. Given this, we haven't gotten to a lot of the race speed/detail training that we normally would have done by this time in the fall. Still, the team looked sharp and did a nice job carrying over the skills we worked on this spring & summer.
We had many swimmers hit a lifetime best time or be right at them which is always encouraging to see. Still, it was the overall attention to detail that impressed me the most - in their races but also in their warm-up, on-deck energy/focus, and ability to take care of their bodies post-meet and maximize recovery. These skills are important as our training picks up and meets become more and more competitive!
With it being an Olympic year, we'll look for more opportunities to race long course this season and best prepare our team to qualify as many cadet-athletes as possible for OTs (U.S. Olympic Team Trials) in June.
We now have two weeks to get back and train before we head to the Rutgers Invite for some short course racing. We have a lot to work on between now and then and I'm excited for practice come Monday morning!" – Head Coach Brandt Nigro
Up Next
The Black Knights continue their road trip and will compete in the Rutgers Invite on October 6-7.
Follow Along
For complete coverage of Army West Point swimming & diving, follow the Black Knights on Twitter and Instagram at @ArmyWP_SwimDive and online at www.goarmywestpoint.com.
Players Mentioned
