AU broke two school records, had five top-10 times and captured the 100 back conference championship at the Patriot League Swimming and Diving Championships over the weekend in Annapolis, Md.
The first day of competition on Thursday was the best for AU. After one day the women’s team was in fourth place with 104 points, 193 points behind Navy. While they did not have as strong of a day as the women, the men were able to score 74 points, which was good enough for sixth place.
It was the individual efforts that stood out during the day.
AU junior Dorothy Isaacs posted AU’s best time of the day in the 200-meter individual medley. She posted a time of 2:03.47, giving her a third place finish. The time was a personal best for Isaacs and a new school record in the event. Her final run beat her qualifying time of 2:04.95 by more than a second.
Senior Matt Pelletier also broke an AU record on the first day of competition. In the 400-meter medley event Pelletier led off the team with a 100-meter backstroke time of 48.89 seconds. The time was also good enough for an NCAA “B” cut qualifying time, meaning he might have the opportunity to make the NCAA Championships. AU’s Ming Ong, Rick Driscoll and Sean McNamara would finish out the event with a total time of 3:25.36. Their finish was good enough for fifth place.
The Eagles would have three other top-10 times set during the day. Pelletier would finish third place in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 21.04 seconds, which was just .09 seconds slower than his qualifying time. Sophomore Alexandra Wessel finished sixth in the woman’s 500-meter freestyle with a time of 4:59.82. Sophomore Leah Breen would also earn a top 10 finish. She finished the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 24.13 seconds, good enough for eighth place. Her time was also third fastest in school history.
Day two of competition was not as strong for AU, but they were able to capture one championship and nearly missed taking another.
Pelletier followed up his strong first day performance by taking home the Patriot League Championship in the 100-meter backstroke. The senior qualified for the event with a time of 49.16 seconds in the afternoon. In the evening he would post a time of 49.61 seconds, beating out Lehigh University’s Tyler Lareau by just under a half second. He is one of only two members on the squad with a conference championship.
Isaacs is the other member of the team with a championship. She captured the 100-meter breaststroke championship last year. This year she came up just short of taking back-to-back titles. The Junior posted a time of 1:02:23 good enough for second place.
AU junior Jessica Ballance had the strongest day in the pool of all the Eagles. She earned two top-10 finishes. Ballance swam a 57.30 second 100-meter backstroke, placing her in sixth place and posted a seventh place time of 56.93 seconds in the 100-meter butterfly.
In other top finishes, the 200-meter medley relay team of Balance, Isaacs, Elinor Shetter and Breen earned third place with a time of 1:45.01. AU junior Kelsey Monarch had the best diving finish, with a tenth place finish in the one-meter dive event.
The men would finish the day in sixth place with 160 points and the women would drop to sixth place with 207 points, just one point behind fifth place Lehigh. Neither the men nor the women would move up in the rankings on the final day. Both would finish in sixth with the men scoring a total of 209 points and the women scoring a total of 287.5.
AU’s season is not over yet. Their next meet is the Eagle Invitation hosted at home. It will take place on Feb. 24. The women’s and men’s NCAA Championships take place between March 18 and March 27.
You can reach this writer at atomlinson@theeagleonline.com.
