Swimming Impresses at Second Day of Nike Invitational
Stats
Nov. 30 – (GAMBIER, Ohio) – The men’s swimming team of Carnegie Mellon University had a great second day at the Nike Cup hosted by Kenyon College as 19 athletes made one of the three final heats. The team is currently fourth out of seven teams heading into tomorrow’s competition.
The 100-yard breaststroke saw a total of six team members swim in the evening with sophomore Jason Huber (Cherry Hill, N.J.) finishing fourth in the super final after earning an NCAA “B” cut qualifying mark (57.34) in the prelims and breaking the school record. Junior Brad Henderson (Solon, Ohio) also earned a “B” cut and finished third in the consolation finals with sophomore Andrew Seo (Irvine, Calif./Northwood) and junior Ryan Hofler (Glen Gardner, N.J./North Hunterdon) not far behind. Sophomore Mingwei Hsu (Rockville, Md./ Richard Montgomery) and freshman Max Gustafson (Arlington, Va./ Thomas Jefferson Science Tech) both competed in the bonus final finishing with times of 1:01.47 and _1:01.54, respectively.
The 100-yard backstroke also had six Tartans in the evening swim with sophomore Jeff Dahlen (San Juan Capistrano, Calif./Capistrano) finishing seventh (53.36) in the consolation final. Sophomore John Johnson (Allentown, Pa.), junior Ryan Piper (Ft. Washington, Pa./Upper Dublin), junior Ron Papa (Malabon City, Philippines/Cranbrook Kingswood), freshman Michael Panzitta (Dallas, Pa./Bishop Itoban) and senior Damian McIntyre (Bethel Park, Pa.) all competed in the bonus final with Johnson leading the pack finishing first in a time of 53.57.
Sophomore Scott Moorby (Cape May, N.J./ Lower Cape May Regional) competed in two events for the evening reaching the bonus final in both the 200-yard butterfly and 400-yard IM finishing ninth and fourth with times of 1:58.93 and 4:15.46, respectively.
Freshman Justin Whaley (Helena, Mont.) was also in the bonus final of the 200-yard butter fly and finished eighth in a time of 1:58.34 while senior Michael Bailey (New Kent, Va.) touched the wall in 1:44.05 for third place in the bonus final of the 200-yard freestyle, setting a team top time for the season.
Senior Patrick Snyder (Marlton, N.J./ St. Joseph's Prep) finished ninth in the consolation final of the 50-yard freestyle after a career-best mark of 21.36 in the prelims.
Freshman Alex Hanson (Burnsville, Minn.) earned a “B” cut in the 400-yard IM prelims while placing fifth in the consolation final. Sophomore Andrew Weitz (Flourtown, Pa./Germantown Academy) wasn’t far behind with a time of 4:12.38. Sophomore Jonas Altman-Kurosaki (New York, N.Y./ Stuyvesant) joined Moorby in the bonus final and finished sixth with a time of 4:16.39.
The 200-yard freestyle relay set a new top time for the season with a 1:25.92 mark by Snyder, Dahlen, Henderson and Bailey and are less than two seconds off the pace for a qualifying mark. The 400-yard medley relay of Dahlen, Huber, freshman Travis Piper (Ft. Washington, Pa./Upper Dublin ) and Snyder finished sixth with a time of 3:29.38.
