Swimming & Diving Fall to Gophers on the Road

Friday, October 11

Minneapolis, MN

7:30 PM

Army West Point

103.00

197.00

Minnesota

Swimming & Diving Fall to Gophers on the Road

October 12, 2024 | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Army Swimming & Diving hit the road for this first full dual meet of the season Friday night as they faced the Minnesota Gophers at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. Army put on a strong showing but the Gophers' home pool advantage saw them claim both the men's and women's wins in the dual meet.

FULL RESULTS

Women: Minnesota 222.00, Army 59.00
Catriona Gilmore led the women's squad with a first place and second place finish at the meet. She claimed first place in the women's 100 breast on a time of 1:02.04 and clocked a 2:15.00 in the women's 200 breast to earn second place.

Molly Webber secured another pair of podium finishes for the Black Knights, placing third in both the women's 200 free and the women's 500 free with times of 1:48.62 and 4:51.50 respectively.

Sydney Braeger clocked a 2:01.64 time in the women's 200 fly, earning her fifth place in the event and putting her in Army's top-10 times in the event in program history.

Men: Minnesota 181.00, Army 100.00
Freshman Johnny Crush continued to make waves in his first year competing at the collegiate level, breaking the program record for the men's 100 back that he set in his collegiate debut with his time of 46.98 that saw him claim first place in the event.

Crush then clocked a 44.02 in the men's 100 free – the eighth fastest time in the event in Black Knights history – before helping Army earn a first and second place finish in the relay events – earning first in the men's 400 free relay with a 2:55.77 and second in the men's 200 medley relay with a 1:25.98.

Daniel Verdolaga helped push the pace for Army, clocking the fourth fastest time in program history in the men's 100 fly with his time of 47.65 that saw him claim second place in the event.

Post Meet Reactions
"The team showcased impressive skills in a challenging match against strong opponents. Still some work to do to perfect some things, but overall pleased with the performance" – Head Diving Coach Connor Dorff

"The team had a great night of racing. Minnesota is an amazing team and it was a lot of fun getting to race them. Thank you to all the Army fans for coming out, and for watching online. It was great practice for racing under pressure, and we're looking forward to carrying the momentum forward to the Army-Navy swim meet!" - Catriona Gilmore

"This was a great facility for diving and the Minnesota dive team is awesome! We had a lot of fun and experienced a great confidence booster going into the next weeks of training." - David Manelis

"It's a privilege to swim with Army West Point as I continue to grow and adapt to college swimming and the military life. In addition, the bond I have with my teammates motivates me to continue to train as hard as I can and become better as a person. The opportunity to compete with a Big Ten swim program is a huge learning curve for all of us. The discipline and dedication they show in their races inspires all of us to continue to be competitive and work on good habits in and out of the water. I look forward to what our team can accomplish during this season. We have the strongest Army West Point team in history and I'm excited to see what we can do at Army-Navy and Patriot League Championships. On top of that, we have the opportunity to send some of our swimmers to NCAAs this year, which I am most excited for." - Thomas Hadji

"This meet was a blast and an awesome opportunity for our program. The stands were packed, crowd was loud, and the competition was great.

Our team stepped up well and raced tough across the board. Minnesota is a very high quality program and it was a much needed challenge to help us continue our climb.

When you swim top competition, you can hide the tiny mistakes that we sometimes get away with - we've learned a lot this weekend and have a lot to take into the next few weeks of training! Thank you to Minnesota for hosting such a special event and thank you to Kyle Sockwell for his hard work to evaluate our sport!" - Director of Swimming & Diving Brandt Nigro

Army Top Finishers
Men's 50 Free: Owen Harlow (20.27) – 2^nd
Men's 50 Free: Ben Vorthmann (20.28) – 3^rd
Men's 100 Back: Johnny Crush (46.98) – 1^st(Program Record)
Women's 100 Breast: Catriona Gilmore (1:02.04) – 1^st
Men's 100 Breast: Kohen Rankin (53.26) – 2^nd
Women's 100 Fly: Angie McKane (54.42) – 3^rd
Men's 100 Fly: Daniel Verdolaga (47.65) – 2^nd
Men's 100 Free: Johnny Crush (44.02) – 1^st
Men's 100 Free: Thomas Hadji (44.61) – 3^rd
Women's 200 Back: Layne Peterson (1:59.33) – 3^rd
Women's 200 Breast: Catriona Gilmore (2:15.00) – 2^nd
Men's 200 Breast: Kalvin Hahn (1:56.42) – 2^nd
Men's 200 Breast: Kohen Rankin (1:59.33) – 3^rd
Men's 200 Fly: Daniel Verdolaga (1:47.17) – 2^nd
Women's 200 Free: Molly Webber (1:48.62) – 3^rd
Men's 200 Free: Thomas Hadji (1:36.92) – 2^nd
Men's 200 IM: Alex Edwards (1:48.96) – 3^rd
Women's 500 Free: Molly Webber (4:51.50) – 3^rd
Women's 200 Medley Relay: Hart, Gilmore, McKane, Cole (1:41.58) – 3^rd
Men's 200 Medley Relay: Crush, Rankin, Verdolaga, Harlow (1:25.98) – 2^nd
Women's 400 Free Relay: McKane, Williams, Webber, Cole (3:22.41) – 2^nd
Men's 400 Free Relay: Vorthmann, Harlow, Crush, Hadji (2:55.77) – 1^st
Men's 400 Free Relay: Jiang, Rankin, Jordan, Tate (3:00.89) – 3^rd
Men's 1-meter Diving: David Manelis (302.10) – 3^rd
Men's 3-meter Diving: Jack McDaniel (354.18) – 3^rd

Up Next
The Black Knights will return home to Crandall Pool on Friday, Oct. 26^th to take on Boston College in a dual meet beginning at 5pm ET.