Salisbury, Md. – St. Mary's College of Maryland men's swimming won a thriller out on the Eastern Shore Saturday afternoon as the Seahawks posted a come-from-behind 132-130 victory in their Capital Athletic Conference regular-season finale at Salisbury University. St. Mary's and Salisbury each won seven events in the 14-event dual meet.
St. Mary's (6-8, 3-2 CAC) overcame an 88-81 deficit with key wins by sophomore Matt Walchuck (Middletown, Md./Middletown) in the 400 freestyle and the 200 individual medley.
Walchuck's first-place finish in the 400 free returned the lead to the Seahawks, 108-99, with three events remaining. Salisbury (2-7, 1-4 CAC) claimed the event, 100 butterfly, to close the gap to 117-109 before Walchuck struck again in the 200 IM for a 128-117 SMCM lead with the 400 freestyle relay remaining.
The Sea Gulls picked up first- and third-place finishes in the last event but the win remained out of reach as St. Mary's second-place finish sealed the two-point win. Swimming on the relay were junior Michael Speer (Springfield, Va./West Springfield), sophomore Andrew Braker (Olney, Md./Sherwood), senior captain Bobby Witkop (Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase), and junior Zach Lilley (Myersville, Md./Middletown).
St. Mary's will end its regular-season at home next Saturday, January 31st as the Seahawks welcome The Catholic University of America to the Aquatics Center at the Michael P. O'Brien Athletics & Recreation Center for a 1:00 p.m. non-conference dual meet.
After claiming second- and third-place finishes in the 400 medley relay to start the meet, St. Mary's captured the next four events. Junior Grant Burgess (Fallston, Md./Fallston) started the win streak with a win in the 800 freestyle in 9:12.11 while first-year Max Madden (Cape St. Clair, Md./Broadneck) came in second in 9:32.81.
Walchuck then captured the 200 freestyle in 2:04.67 while sophomore Andrew Braun (Bowie, Md./DeMatha Catholic) took third (2:08.67). Braker claimed first in the 100 backstroke in 1:07.89 for St. Mary's third straight win. First-year Kieran Broder (Olney, Md./Georgetown Prep) capped the 4-0 run with a first-place finish in the 100 breaststroke in 1:13.43.
Witkop finished second in the 200 butterfly in 2:21.56 while junior Kian Karimi (Kensington, Md./Walter Johnson) placed third (2:23.17). It was another 2-3 finish in the 50 freestyle as Lilley finished second in 25.73 followed by Speer just 0.08 seconds later for third.
Witkop picked up his second second-place finish in the 100 freestyle in 58.08 while Speer was third just 0.17 seconds later for third. Lilley notched another second-place finish in the 200 backstroke in 2:24.65.
Broder picked up his second gold of the meet with a first-place finish in the 200 breaststroke in 2:41.82 while Madden finished third in 2:49.28.
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