The AU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams both finished sixth out of eight teams at the three-day long Patriot Invitational at George Mason University Nov. 17 through 19.
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County swept the race, taking home the victory for both the men and women.
The Eagles posted top-four finishers in several races, highlighted by the performance from freshman diver Melissa Parker.
Parker paces women’s team
Parker had the best finish during the event for the Eagles, coming in second on the women’s side in one-meter diving. Parker’s score of 219.55 in the finals placed her second behind George Mason’s Ali Marie Murphy, who won the event with a score of 224.85.
Parker also finished fourth in the three-meter diving event.
Senior Leah Breen and freshmen Miriam Crispo and Grace Ibraham also anchored the women’s team.
Breen’s best finish occurred in the 100-meter freestyle, where she brought in fourth place with a time of 51.87. Breen also placed sixth in the 50-meter freestyle (23.94), and came in 14th in the 200-meter free with a time of 1:57.52.
Crispo finished the 400-meter individual medley in 4:42.33, which was good for 12th place, while Ibraham finished in 15th in both the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke.
Ballance, Feasley, Ong top finishers for men
Sophomore Bobby Ballance, senior Robert Feasley and junior Ming Ong were the top finishers for AU on the men’s side.
Ballance placed third in the 100-meter backstroke with a time of 52.19, while placing fourth in the 200 back after clocking in at 1:52.29.
Feasley’s best finish came in the 100-meter fly, where he finished the race in 51.13 for a fourth-place finish.
Ong came in fourth in both the 200-meter breaststroke (2:07.59) and 200-meter individual medley (1:54.82).
The Eagles showed their impressive young talent with strong performances on the men’s side from freshmen Phil Piombino, Ryan Saunders and Harrison Volaski, who placed in the top 15 in their races.
The next meet for the Eagles will be Dec. 3 at Howard University.
