Swimming & Diving Dominates in Season Opening Tri-meet Against Marist and Fordham

Friday, September 27

West Point, N.Y.

5:00 PM

Army West Point

590.00

364.00

Marist (Tri-Meet)

Swimming & Diving Dominates in Season Opening Tri-meet Against Marist and Fordham

September 28, 2024 | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army Swimming & Diving began their 2024-25 campaign on Friday as they welcomed Fordham and Marist to West Point for a tri-meet at Crandall Pool.

The Black Knights dominated the meet with a slew of new faces in their lineup, collecting 22 first place finishes out of 24 total events throughout the meet and a new program record for the men's team.

FULL RESULTS

Women: Army 551, Fordham 330.5, Marist 248.5
The women delivered an incredible showing on Friday, picking up 34 top-5 finishes across the night's events.

Angie McKane posted a time of 54.36 which stands as the sixth fastest time in the 100 butterfly in program history while Meghan Cole posted the fastest 100 IM split in the field by over a second to help the Black Knights claim first in the 400 medley relay.

Army swept the top four in the women's 50 butterfly as McKane earned another first place finish in the butterfly, this time by over a second at 24.61, followed by Maggie Kroening with a 25.75. Freshman Hadley Kling claimed third place with a time of 26.40 and senior Ella Gross rounded out the top four with a 26.48.

Men: Army 565, Fordham 293, Marist 284
Army's men put on an indomitable performance at the meet, claiming first place in every single event.

Riley Groves posted a time of 47.89 in the men's 100 butterfly to claim first place and move up the Black Knight's all-time top-10 times for the event to seventh, eclipsing his previous best from last season's Patriot League meet and making him one of just nine swimmers from the Army men's swimming team to post a time under 48 seconds in the event.

Newcomer Johnny Crush made a splash in his collegiate debut with the Black Knights, clocking a 47.07 in the men's 100 backstroke to set a new program record and posting the ninth fastest leadoff time in the men's 500 freestyle relay in program history to help Army clinch first place in the event with a blistering 3:45.22.

Senior Alex Edwards and freshman Daniel Verdolaga demonstrated Army's depth throughout its classes as both posted sub-50.00 times in the 100 IM of the 400 medley relay.

Post Meet Reactions
"This meet was the first major stepping stone in our season. Our women brought the head in and out of the pool! Not only were we pushing to get our hands on the wall first, but there was so much energy and motivation from every single person on deck. I am so proud of our team tonight and I can't wait to see what we do this coming season. It will be done!" – Meghan Cole

"This meet felt great. We couldn't have asked for a better start to the season and we're excited for what's to come. I think the whole team did an amazing job. We brought the energy tonight and came blasting out of the gate and never looked back. It was lots of positivity and smiles from everyone, I am very proud to be a part of this team. It's a special group and I couldn't be happier with how we performed. We blast out of the gate and never look back at every meet we swim." -Johnny Crush

"This was a great way to start the season! First meets always have a sense of excitement, but also a lot of questions. We have a very strong, deep team. We have a much different look from last year and still need to figure out how best to put our line-up together. We have lots of details and racing strategy to work on, but overall, this was a great place to start! Marist and Fordham came with a lot of energy and put up a lot of great performances. I look forward to continuing this meet in the future. Now, it's time to rest, recover, and move on. Practice tomorrow morning is all we are focused on now." – Director of Swimming & Diving Brandt Nigro

Army Top Finishers
Women 400 Medley Relay: Gilmore, King, Lord, Cole (3:51.21) – 1^st
Women 400 Medley Relay: Kroening, Laursen, Hart, Dudley (3:58.81) – 3^rd
Men 400 Medley Relay: Kling, Edwards, Rankin, Verdolaga (3:18.56) – 1^st
Men 400 Medley Relay: Hahn, Bernauer, Peterson, Barrieault (3:30.92) – 3^rd
Women 1000 Freestyle Relay: Braeger, Webber (10:00.73) – 1^st
Women 1000 Freestyle Relay: Williams, O'Shaughnessy (10:09.07) – 2^nd
Men 1000 Freestyle Relay: Hahn, Tate (9:08.57) – 1^st
Men 1000 Freestyle Relay: Barrieault, Bernauer (9:12.57) – 2^nd
Women 50 Backstroke: Jenna Hart (26.01) – 1^st
Women 50 Backstroke: Layne Peterson (26.62) – 2^nd
Men 50 Backstroke: Johnny Crush (21.95) – 1^st
Men 50 Backstroke: Max Jordan (23.14) – 3^rd
Women 50 Breaststroke: Meghan Cole (29.68) – 1^st
Men 50 Breaststroke: Kohen Rankin (24.85) – 1^st
Men 50 Breaststroke: Ryan Durkan (25.71) – 2^nd
Women 100 Butterfly: Angie McKane (54.36) – 1^st
Women 100 Butterfly: Maggie Kroening (55.99) – 3^rd
Men 100 Butterfly: Riley Groves (47.89) – 1^st
Men 100 Butterfly: Daniel Verdolaga (48.20) – 2^nd
Men 100 Butterfly: Jack Mowery (49.10) – 3^rd
Women 50 Freestyle: Meghan Cole (23.11) – 1^st
Women 50 Freestyle: Tiana Mescher (23.81) – 3^rd
Men 50 Freestyle: Ben Vorthmann (20.57) – 1^st
Men 50 Freestyle: Owen Harlow (20.76) – 2^nd
Men 50 Freestyle: Eddie Wang (20.99) – 3^rd
Women 600 Freestyle Relay: Webber, MacMullan, Braeger (5:39.05) – 1^st
Women 600 Freestyle Relay: Williams, Chandler, Payton (5:39.34) – 2^nd
Men 600 Freestyle Relay: Hadji, Glover, Tate (4:59.13) – 1^st
Men 600 Freestyle Relay: Chang, Jordan, Peterson (5:03.33) – 2^nd
Women 100 Backstroke: Layne Peterson (56.46) – 1^st
Women 100 Backstroke: Jenna Hart (56.51) – 2^nd
Men 100 Backstroke: Johnny Crush (47.07) – 1^st(Program Record)
Men 100 Backstroke: Joey Kling (49.44) – 2^nd
Men 100 Backstroke: Zac Leith (51.11) – 3^rd
Women 100 Breaststroke: Catriona Gilmore (1:03.20) – 1^st
Men 100 Breaststroke: Kohen Rankin (53.98) – 1^st
Men 100 Breaststroke: Ryan Durkan (56.21) – 2^nd
Women 50 Butterfly: Angie McKane (24.61) – 1^st
Women 50 Butterfly: Maggie Kroening (25.75) – 2^nd
Women 50 Butterfly: Hadley Kling (26.40) – 3^rd
Men 50 Butterfly: Ben Vorthmann (22.27) – 1^st
Men 50 Butterfly: Riley Groves (22.27) – 1^st
Men 50 Butterfly: Daniel Verdolaga (22.30) – 3^rd
Women 200 IM: Catriona Gilmore (2:03.69) – 2^nd
Men 200 IM: Alex Edwards (1:49.19) – 1^st
Men 200 IM: Kalvin Hahn (1:51.07) – 3^rd
Women 500 Freestyle Relay: McKane, Wagner, Williams, MacMullan (4:20.27) – 1^st
Women 500 Freestyle Relay: Webber, Dudley, Braeger, O'Shaughnessy (4:24.18) – 2^nd
Men 500 Freestyle Relay: Crush, Hadji, Harlow, Vorthmann (3:45.22) – 1^st
Men 500 Freestyle Relay: Chang, Jordan, Glover, Jiang (3:48.49) – 2^nd

Up Next
Army Swimming & Diving's women will next host a tri-meet with Vermont and Central Connecticut State on October 4^th at Crandall Pool beginning at 4:30pm ET before both the men's and women's programs head to Minneapolis for a dual meet at Minnesota on October 11^th beginning at 7:30pm ET.