BALTIMORE, Md.- The VMI men's swimming and diving team took a 191.5-144.5 decision against Northeast Conference foe Howard, but fell 293-65 to Loyola (Md.) and 290-58 against Johns Hopkins at the Thomas Murphy Invitational this weekend, as the event was held Friday and Saturday at the Mangione Aquatic Center.

Freshman Jeff Turner (Arlington, Va./Yorktown) won both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events, as he scored a 145.95 from the shortboard and a 236.78 from the tallboard.

Among the swimming events, senior Kevin Vik's (Eagle River, Alaska/Chugiak) fifth-place finish in the 1650-yard freestyle with a 18:06.09 represented the top individual finish for the Keydets. Vik's other showings included eighth-place finishes in the 400-yard individual medley (4:36.89) and the 200-yard backstroke (2:13.31), and a 12th-place showing in the 500-yard freestyle (5:10.47).

Placing sixth in the 200-yard butterfly was Philip Sgrignoli (Fredericksburg, Va./Massaponay), who did so by swimming a 2:11.60 in the event. Sgrignoli also turned in a 10th-place showing in the 400-yard individual medley (4:47.73) and a 12th-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke (1:03.79).

Junior Jason Webb (Bowie, Md./DeMatha) placed eighth in the 100-yard backstroke, as he touched the wall with a 59.17, while he also placed ninth in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:15.82. Senior Kimball Yamasaki (Fremont, Calif./Mission San Jose) had three top-ten finishes, as he placed eighth in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:31.93), ninth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:07.01) and tenth in the 100-yard butterfly (57.85). Also placing ninth in the 200-yard butterfly was sophomore Matt Brown (Dexter, Mich./Dexter), who did so with a time of 2:21.46.

Other top ten event finishes included tenth-place showings included Stuart Craft (Richmond, Va./Mills Godwin) in the 50-yard freestyle (23.00), Will Rowcliffe (Falls Church, Va./J.E.B. Stuart) in the 100-yard backstroke (1:02.45), Peter Borchelt (Evans, Ga./Evans) in the 200-yard backstroke (2:16.76), Paul Sheldon (Glen Allen, Va./Hermitage) in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:41.07).

Among the relay events, VMI's top performance came in the 400-yard freestyle relay, as Craft, Brown, Rowcliffe and Vik turned in a time of 3:58.75, good enough for fourth place. Other top finshes in the relay events included a fifth-place finish in the 800-yard freestyle with Vik, Rowcliffe, Chris Beyer and Paul DeValk turning in a time of 7:55.42, and a sixth-place finish in the 400-yard medley, as Webb, Sheldon, Brown and DeValk combined for a 4:03.83 time. The Keydets also finished sixth in the 200-yard freestyle relay, as Brown, Craft, DeValk and Rowcliffe swam a 1:33.61, and the 200-yard medley relay, as Webb, Craft, Charlie Barnett and Beyer combined for a 1:49.48.

The team returns to action in three weeks, as they compete at the Yellow Jacket Invitational hosted by Randolph-Macon on Dec. 1-2.