Men's Swimming & Diving Wins Final Event to Complete Comeback, Purple Knights Sweep

NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's swimming & diving team won the final event, the 200-yard freestyle relay, to overcome Norwich University, 120.5-113.5, on Sunday in Goodyear Pool. The women bested the Cadets, 159-82, to give Saint Michael's a clean sweep.

With the men down 109.5-107.5 heading into the 200 free relay, junior Will Englehardt (Sparta, N.J./Sparta), sophomore Ryan McCaffrey (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/George Washington), and first-years Hunter Cook (Garden City, N.Y./Chaminade) and JJ Kane (Sparta, N.J./Pope John XXIII Regional) won in 1:31.32, by just 0.26 seconds over a Cadet quartet, to give the Purple Knights a 118.5-113.5 edge and clinch the team victory. It was Kane's first college win. Junior Timmy Voelker (Stockholm, N.J./Wallkill Valley Regional) and sophomores Ben Insley (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Plattsburgh), Alex Meek (Essex Junction, Vt./Essex) and Thorlief Prior (Luxembourg, Luxembourg/International School of Luxembourg) placed third to nab the final two points.

MEN'S MEET
NOTES

Saint Michael's (4-2), Norwich (2-1)
The Purple Knights won despite capturing only five of 13 events

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

Junior Will Englehardt (Sparta, N.J./Sparta), 2 wins
- Tied Allan Smith '07 for eighth in program history in total career wins (42)
Junior Thomas Kane (Sparta, N.J./Pope John XXIII Regional), 2 wins
- Moved into four-way tie for eighth in program history in individual career wins (28)
Sophomore Connor Quirbach (Lowell, Mass./Chelmsford), 2 wins
- Tied Nate Imbergamo '22 for sixth in program history in career total wins (43)

THE ACTION

In addition to swimming for the top 200 free relay, Englehardt joined Thomas Kane, Quirbach and sophomore Rafael Kowal (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Plattsburgh/Alfred State) to take the 200-yard medley relay (1:41.04). Thomas Kane topped the 100-yard individual medley (56.04) and was second in the 100-yard butterfly, while Quirbach won the 100 free (48.87).
First-year Liam Jordan (Mendon, Mass./Wellesley) won the 100-yard backstroke (57.47), with Meek only 0.60 seconds behind. Kowal was runner-up in both the 200 free and 500 free, trailing the winners by 0.55 and 0.44 ticks, respectively. In the 50 free, Englehardt placed second, JJ Kane was 0.33 seconds behind him, and senior Aaron Bouchard (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Seton Catholic Central) was 0.06 seconds off of Kane's pace.
Sophomore Sebastian Revesz (Bedford, Mass./Bedford) took second in one one-meter diving event and tied for second in the other, and first-year Emanuel Cuarta (Davie, Fla./Western) claimed second in the 100-yard breaststroke. Bouchard, Cuarta, McCaffrey and Meek were 0.53 seconds away from second place in the 200 medley relay, while Cook came within 0.10 seconds of the 100 IM top three.

WOMEN'S MEET
NOTES

Saint Michael's (4-2), Norwich (2-1)
The Purple Knights won their 36th consecutive meeting while improving to 55-8 in the all-time series

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

Junior Jessie Hart (Canton, Mass./Canton), 3 wins
Junior Margaret Wilk (Hardyston, N.J./Pope John XXIII Regional), 3 wins
First-year Ayden Walsh (Tallahassee, Fla./Creekside), 3 wins
First-year Ashley Meade (Belle Harbor, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy), 2 wins
First-year Madeline Waldt (Abingdon, Md./The Catholic High School of Baltimore), 2 wins
- Improved to 10-0 in distance freestyle races

THE ACTION

Hart, Waldt, Walsh and sophomore Katie Dzambo (Windermere, Fla./Bishop Moore) won the 200 medley relay (1:59.78), while Meade, Wilk, sophomore Riley Beaudoin (Groton, Mass./Groton-Dunstable Regional) and first-year Rachel Shenkman (Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury) topped the 200 free relay field (1:48.00). The victory was the first of Beaudoin and Shenkman's college careers.
Hart won the 100 breast (1:12.82) and 1,000 free (12:09.41), Wilk took the 50 free (26.28) and 100 back (1:05.38), while Walsh captured the 100 fly (1:04.67) and 100 IM (1:07.02). Meade picked up a victory in the 200 free (2:05.61), ahead of runner-up Waldt, while Waldt took the 500 free (5:27.74), with Meade second.
Senior Emily McLane (Morrisonville, N.Y./Peru) finished as runner-up in the 100 breast and 100 IM, with first-year Hannah Steen (Portsmouth, R.I./Portsmouth) 0.31 seconds behind her in the latter. Steen was also 100 fly silver medalist. Senior Caroline Gust (North Andover, Mass./North Andover) finished second in the 100 back, holding off the closest competition by 0.18 seconds, and junior Elaine Gillan (Rensselaer, N.Y./Rensselaer) was second in the 100 free. Sophomore Ashley Silveira (Seekonk, Mass./Seekonk) was within 5.35 and 7.05 points, respectively, of second place in the first and second 1M diving events.