Swimming & Diving Shines on First Day of Wolfpack Elite Invitational

Thursday, November 21

Greensboro, NC

9:30 AM (P) / 5:30 PM (F)

Army West Point

NC State Invite

Swimming & Diving Shines on First Day of Wolfpack Elite Invitational

November 21, 2024 | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Army Swimming & Diving made a splash in their first day at NC State's 2024 Wolfpack Elite Invitational. The Black Knights saw 13 of their number advance to the finals of their individual events and two new program records set on the first day of competition.

The men put up two program records during the men's 400 medley relay. Johnny Crush smashed the previous program record for the third time in the 100 back as he opened the relay, clocking a 45.70. His time replaces the previous record of 46.98, set by Crush earlier this season at Minnesota and a time which already qualified Crush for NCAA Zone Bs.

Crush's quick start set a lazing pace for the rest of the relay, setting up Kohen Rankin, Daniel Verdolaga, and Thomas Hadji to finish out the relay with an overall time of 3:08.18 and surpass the previous record (3:09.79) by more than a second.

For the women's individual events, Molly Webber and Clara Williams advanced to the finals of the women's 500 free as Webber finished 11^th overall in the preliminaries with a time of 4:50.75 while Williams' time of 4:54.44 placed her 20^th overall in the preliminary rounds.

Catriona Gilmore and Sydney Braeger advanced to the finals of the women's 200 IM with a time of 2:03.22 earning Gilmore 20^th and a 2:04.98 seeing Braeger to 30^th in the prelims.

Meghan Cole and Tiana Mescher were the final two women to earn places in an individual final. The duo logged times of 23.36 and 23.51 in the women's 50 free to finish 32^nd and 40^th in the preliminary rounds.

On the men's side, Wes Tate was the first Army swimmer to advance to the finals of an individual event with a 4:22.51 in the men's 500 free that placed him 11^th overall in the preliminary round.

Alex Edwards, Joey Kling, and Daniel Verdolaga all secured places in the men's 200 IM. Edwards advanced with a 1:45.88 and an 8^th place finish, Kling with a time of 1:47.95 to rank 14^th overall, and Verdolaga with a 1:49.04 and a 21^st place finish in the prelims.

The Black Knights saw three team members advance to the finals of the men's 50 free as well as Johnny Crush posted a 19.96 and finish 25^th overall, Owen Harlow clocked a 20.17 top finish 35^th, and Kohen Rankin placed 39^th with a time of 20.39 in the preliminaries.

TOP ARMY FINISHES – DAY 1
Women's 200 Free Relay: Cole, Williams, Mescher, Webber (1:33.05) – 11^th
Men's 200 Free Relay: Crush, Harlow, Rankin, Hadji (1:19.07) – 10^th
Women's 500 Free: Molly Webber (4:52.37) – 15^th
Women's 500 Free: Clara Williams (4:52.74) – 20^th
Men's 500 Free: Wes Tate (4:29.68) – 16^th
Women's 200 IM: Catriona Gilmore (2:03.22) – 20^th
Men's 200 IM: Alex Edwards (1:45.88) – 8^th
Men's 200 IM: Joey Kling (1:47.95) – T14^th
Women's 400 Medley Relay: Hart, Gilmore, Cole, Williams (3:46.45) – 15^th
Men's 400 Medley Relay: Crush, Rankin, Verdolaga, Hadji (3:08.18 – Program Record) – 6^th

Up Next
The Black Knights will continue to compete at the Wolfpack Elite Invitational on Friday, November 22. Preliminaries for the day's events will begin at 9:30am EST with the finals to follow at 5:30pm EST.