West Chester Men Sweep Tri-Match with Johns Hopkins and the College of New Jersey
BALTIMORE, MD. – West Chester's Michael Oliver (Howell, N.J./Freehold Twp.) broke a pair of pool records in the 100 and 200 breaststroke as the Golden Rams swept Johns Hopkins and the College of New Jersey on Saturday. Oliver posted a time of 56.30 in the 100-yard breaststroke for his first record. Meanwhile, the senior broke the pool record in the 200-yard breaststroke by 3.43 second that stood since 1981 (2:01.57). West Chester accumulated a pair of victories in the tri-match. The Golden Rams defeated TCNJ 172-90. Additionally, the squad beat Johns Hopkins by a final score of 162.5-99.5. Overall, there were eight first-place finishes for the Golden Rams to begin 2017. Oliver also won the 200-yard IM to obtain the top spot for his third first-place finish (1:54.43) of the day. Finishing right behind Oliver was Thomas McCormick (West Chester, Pa./Henderson) at 1:54.62. Claiming the third spot to allow West Chester to secure the top three spots in the event was Phillip Nawn (Media, Pa. / Penncrest) with a time of 1:59.48. Senior Victor Polyakov (Taganrog, Russia) won three different events, including the 100-yard freestyle (46.84), 200-yard freestyle (1:40.78), and 500-yard freestyle (4:35.52). In the 500-freestyle, Trey Shackleton claimed second for the Golden Rams with a time of 4:45.01. Senior Geoff Boodey (Wrightstown, Pa / Council Rock North) produced fourth in the event as well (4:50.26). Shackleton was not done yet, finishing second in the 1650-yard freestyle (16:32.12). Oliver received first in the 200-yard breaststroke and a pair of Golden Rams were behind him for second and third. Shota Nakano (Hummelstown, Pa./Hershey) registered second (2:09.15), while McCormick followed him (2:09.76). Additionally, the two came away with second and fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke behind Oliver. Nakano was second once again (58.11) for the Golden Rams. McCormick on the other hand was fourth at 59.68. Junior Austin Doss (Hershey, Pa./Hershey) added a time of 53.86 in the 100-yard backstroke for second place. In regards to the 200-yard butterfly, Tim Tomsuden (Marriottsville, M.D. / Liberty) contributed first with a time of 1:54.53. One second later was Shackleton for the Golden Rams (1:55.67). The squad also registered first in the 200-yard medley relay (1:33.88). West Chester's team consisted of Polyakov, Oliver, Nakano, and Evan Sherkness. West Chester returns next week when it holds the WCU Diving Invitational on Friday, January 13th at the North Pool inside Hollinger Field House. The competition is set to begin at 5 p.m. and continue the following day.
