Seton Hall University
Patriot Invitational
Pirates Finish Fourth at Patriot
11/18/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
FAIRFAX, VA. – With the first half of the 2012-13 schedule now complete, the Seton Hall men’s swimming & diving team will head into the winter break coming off a fourth place finish at the Patriot Invitational.
The Pirates totaled 415 points over three days to place fourth at the event for the fifth consecutive season and the sixth time in seven years. UNC-Wilmington captured the team title with 844.5 points.
The program on Saturday included five individual events, leading into the 400-yard freestyle relay to close the evening and the competition.
For the first time this season, the vaunted 1,650-yard freestyle was on the slate for the Pirates. Undaunted by the distance, SHU put together its best collective effort of the day in the event, registering three of the top-12 finals times. Senior Ian Keyser (Petersburg, N.J.) placed third with a time of 16:09.16, recording the highest finish for Seton Hall on day three in the process. Junior Jon Ropson (McKinney, Texas) clocked the seventh-quickest time (16:27.43) while Austin Acheson (Olathe, Kan.) swam to a 16.33.44 mark to finish 11th.
All three scorers also qualified for February’s BIG EAST Championships in the event.
Keyser and Acheson also recorded conference qualifying times in the 200-yard backstroke, an event that saw the Kansas native score by advancing to the consolation final. Acheson ultimately finished 16th overall after ranking 13th in preliminaries, while Keyser notched the qualifying mark with the 20th fastest preliminary time.
Junior Matt Benson (Overland Park, Kan.) joined the senior duo in the top-20 prelim times, coming in with a time of 1:57.31. Benson improved upon his original effort in his second swim, finishing second in his final heat by reaching the wall in 1:56.75.
Like Acheson, Ropson also went on to collect points in a second individual event as he finished 14th among all swimmers in the 200-yard butterfly. Tyler Naumann (Middletown, Conn.) earned the final spot in the championship final by registering the fastest 200-fly time of the year for The Hall (1:55.98) and went on to finish seventh in the night session.
A third championship finalist came in the form of Ryan O'Shaughnessy (Coral Springs, Fla.) as the senior swam his way to the top-eight in the 200-yard breaststroke. Ian DeLisio (Woodstock, N.Y.) added a 13th place finish to give SHU two scorers in the event.
James Logan (Wallingford, Pa.) and freshman Joey Giovine also performed well in preliminaries, earning the option to participate in the night cap. Logan, a BIG EAST qualifier in the 200-breast ranked 19th after the first swim while Giovine’s time of 2:16.00 was 24th among all entrants and just .01 off the BIG EAST automatic qualifying standard.
In the 100-yard freestyle, Logan led the way for SHU and joined Tim Bosse (New Windsor, N.Y.) as Pirates who have qualified for the conference championship in the event so far this season. Logan turned in a time of 48.01 in the morning, qualifying in his first time competing in the race in 2012-13. He later placed 23rd overall, behind a back-to-back finish from Joey Lacus (Wethersfield, Conn.) in 20th and Bosse (21st) in the C final.
The three 100-free competitors reunited as part of a team that included O’Shaughnessy to end the night with a ninth place effort in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Their time of 3:11.50 stands as the team’s fastest time in competition heading into the break.
The Pirates enter the winter intermission with a 3-4 dual meet record and a list of 15 team members who have qualified for the BIG EAST meet in at least one event. The team will take a winter training trip to Puerto Rico before returning to intercollegiate competition on Tuesday, January 15 in a road meet at Villanova.Don't forget to follow @SHUSwim on Twitter to stay up on the latest from the swimming & diving program through the break.
