The AU men’s swimming and diving team finished fifth of eight teams in the Patriot League Championships, while the women finished seventh.
The men’s team totaled 271.5 points and the women 213 points at the Feb. 17-19 championships in Annapolis, Md.
Navy took home the title on both the men’s and women’s side, winning by margins of 391 and 241 points, respectively. Bucknell University was the runner-up in the men’s competition, and Colgate University took second place in the women’s contest.
The Midshipmen picked up their ninth straight title.
Ballance leads AU men
Bobby Ballance totaled 42 points individually, placing 16th overall. Matt Wurm was right behind with 41 points in 19th place, while Ming Ong earned 38.5 points for the 23rd spot.
The 200 back ended up being the strongest event on the men’s side for AU, as three Eagles finished in the top eight and four in the top 16. Wurm led the Eagles in second place (1:48.24), and Ballance touched for a seventh-place finish (1:49.96), while Harrison Volaski was right on his toes at 1:51.71 in eighth. Ross Honig finished in 14th (1:54.70).
Ballance also gained a fifth-place finish in the 200 IM at 1:51:21. Wurm placed seventh in the 500 freestyle event at 4:32.33.
Ballance and Ong shined with top-four finishes in the 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke, respectively. Wurm also registered a seventh-place finish in the 200 freestyle finals.
Ong was also strong in the 200 breaststroke, earning a fourth-place result (2:04.15), while Charlie Taffet came in 16th with a time of 2:08.57.
Breen top point scorer for AU women
Leah Breen scored 32 points in the three-day championships, ranking 29th out of 103 swimmers. Breen came in fifth in the 50 free at 23.92 seconds after posting the second-fastest time in the preliminary round (23.72).
Melissa Parker captured third place in the three-meter diving event with 267 points.
Shekinah Hoffman posted an 11th-place finish for the Eagles in the 100 butterfly (58.33), while Grace Ibrahim finished 15th in the 100 breast (1:09.36).
The women excelled on the final day, as Breen came in second in the 100 free in 51.53, while Alex Ramdin finished the race in 52.94, good for 11th place. Miriam Crispo and Hoffman finished 12th (2:09.60) and 16th (2:12.81), respectively, in the 200 butterfly finals.
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