Seton Hall University
Patriot Invitational
Hall Continues Charge at Patriot
11/17/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
FAIRFAX, VA. – Through two days and 26 total events at the Patriot Invitational, the Seton Hall men’s swimming and diving team remains in the top half of the team leaderboard, sitting in fourth place out of eight teams with 300 points.
UNC-Wilmington retained its day one lead, finishing Friday with 579 points.
Navigating a demanding program, the Pirates made three finals appearances in the five individual swim events that were held on the day.
Seniors Austin Acheson (Olathe, Kan.) and Ryan O'Shaughnessy (Coral Springs, Fla.) tied for the top finish on the team, each registering a fourth place effort.
Acheson kicked the individual portion of the night session off by placing fourth in the 400-yard individual medley final (4:03.79), after earning a spot via the sixth-fastest time in preliminaries. O’Shaughnessy accomplished the feat in the 100-yard breaststroke, placing fourth in 58.30 after entering the championship final as the third seed.
Each of the aforementioned top-four finishes was coupled with a pair of scoring efforts in the consolation final of the same event. Ian Keyser (Petersburg, N.J.) (10th, 4:10.33) and Andrew William (Bayonne, N.J.) (13th, 4:14.54) joined Acheson in scoring in the 400-IM as they both picked up BIG EAST automatic qualifying times along the way.
In the 100-breast, Ian DeLisio (Woodstock, N.Y.) reached the wall in 59.40 to take 11th place points. James Logan (Wallingford, Pa.) placed 13th with a consolation final time of 59.86 to further supplement O’Shaughnessy’s performance.
Tim Bosse (New Windsor, N.Y.) was the other Pirate to reach a championship heat, ultimately finishing 8th (1:44.61) in the 200-yard freestyle. Bosse’s exploits headlined a strong effort overall in the event as the team managed three new automatic qualifying times for the conference meet as well. Junior Tyler Naumann (Middletown, Conn.) (12th, 1:45.03) finished just ahead of classmate Jon Ropson (McKinney, Texas) (13th, 1:45.51) in the consolation heat as both simultaneously scored and added the event to their BIG EAST program. Senior Brian Pauling (Sewell, N.J.) earned a second swim and placed 24th while William swam the 27th-quickest time and also surpassed conference standards.
Other notable finishes included a win for O’Shaughnessy in the consolation heat of the 100-yard butterfly (51.42) that was followed by a 16th place overall finish for Greg Black (Easton, Pa.) in the same event.
Sophomore diver Ben Mitchell (Milford, Pa.) tallied a crucial 16 points for the Hall from the three-meter board, advancing to the finals and finishing third with a score of 265.85.
Matt Benson (Overland Park, Kan.) led the way in the 100-yard backstroke, placing 16th with a finals time of 53.52. Bosse clocked a time of 54.54 that ranked 24th after prelims while junior Evan Forbes (Cinnaminson, N.J.) is the 15th member of the team headed to Indianapolis after clocking in with a qualifying time of 55.79.
Benson, Logan, Ropson and Joey Lacus (Wethersfield, Conn.) combined to swim the team’s fastest 200-yard medley relay time of the season, finishing in 1:36.78 to place 10th. Swimming the 800-yard freestyle relay for the first time in 2012-13, Bosse, O’Shaughnessy, Naumann and Acheson contributed a sixth place finish, pacing The Hall with a time of 7:02.28.
In all, the Pirates managed six new automatic qualifying times on the day and added Forbes to a crowded list of team members already guaranteed a spot at the BIG EAST Championships.
Competition at the Patriot Invitational will conclude on Saturday, as preliminaries and finals will be held in five more individual events, followed by a 400-yard freestyle relay to wrap up proceedings.
Races will begin at approximately 10:00 a.m. with the 200-yard backstroke listed as the first event scheduled on the program.
