BALTIMORE, Md. ? No less than six VMI school records fell as the VMI swimming and diving teams competed at the Thomas Murphy Invitational, hosted by Loyola (Md.) in Baltimore this weekend. The men's team fell to Johns Hopkins 270-59 and Loyola 304-51, while the women's squad dropped decisions to Johns Hopkins (279-34), Loyola (315-20) and Saint Francis (279-34).
Freshman James Goodwillie (Richmond, Va./Mills Godwin) broke an 18-year old mark in the 400 individual medley, besting both Pete Cadek's freshman and varsity mark set in 1990 by over two seconds, finishing in 4:14.31. He also nearly claimed the 200 IM record, coming within less than a second-and-a-half of the school's mark with his 2:00.37 clocking. Also for the men, the 800 freestyle relay team of Benji Howard, Matt Dale, Matt Elliott and Goodwillie established a new freshman standard with a time of 7:38.90.
The women's relay team of sophomore Lizanne Carlos, senior Stephanie Ortiz, freshman Veronica Lentsch and sophomore Chelsea Nugent, meanwhile, collected a new school record in the 200 freestyle relay (1:59.14). Nugent then bested her own mark in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:09.71, while sophomore Briana Allard did the same in the one-meter diving event, posting a score of 137.93.
Goodwillie topped VMI's individual finishes, placing second in the 200 IM, third in the 200 backstroke (1:59.50) and fifth in the 200 IM. Junior Will Rowcliffe placed seventh in the 100 butterfly (55.81) and the 100 freestyle (49.74), and also turned in an eight-place finish in the 50 freestyle (22.54). Freshman Matt Dale placed seventh in the 100 backstroke (58.15), while junior Justin Ferrell contributed an eighth-place showing in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.80).
In the men's competition, the Keydets' top relay finish came in the 400 freestyle relay, placing fourth with a time of 3:24.01. The Keydets also placed fifth in the 200 (1:34.71) and 800 (7:38.90) freestyle relays, as well as the 200 medley relay (1:46.69). Rounding out the relay finishes for the squad was a sixth-place showing in the 400 medley relay (3:50.79).
On the women's side, Nugent's 100 backstroke record netted her a 14th-place finish. She also placed 15th in the 200 backstroke (2:31.59) and 18th in the 500 freestyle (6:01.19).
The teams return to action on Saturday afternoon, hosting their second event of the season at the Clark King Hall Pool. At 1 p.m. on Saturday, the Keydets welcome New Jersey Tech and Mount St. Mary's for a non-conference tilt.
