First-Place Finish in Final Event Gives Shoremen 132-130 Win
COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. -- A narrow first-place finish in the final event of the meet - the 200 freestyle relay - gave visiting Washington College a 132-130 dual-meet win over host Ursinus College in Centennial Conference men's swimming action this afternoon in Collegeville, Pa. The victory tied the school record for dual-meet wins in a season for the Shoremen, who improved to 8-1 overall and 4-1 in conference meets, and was their school record-tying eighth dual-meet win in a row.
Ursinus (6-4, 3-3) held a 124-122 lead heading into the 200 freestyle relay, but the Washington quartet of sophomore Eric Burcin (Bethlehem, Pa./Lebanon Valley), sophomore Brent Longenecker (Maytown, Pa./Donegal), sophomore Charles Logan (Durham, N.C./Riverside), and junior Austin Yocum (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) won the final event by just six one-hundredths of a second in 1:29.05. Ursinus took both second and third in the event, but the first-place finish by the Shoremen was enough for the two-point meet victory.
The win in the 200 freestyle relay gave the Shoremen first-place finishes in both of the crucial relay events as they opened the meet with a 1:38.92 winning time in the 200 medley relay by Logan, Burcin, junior Greg Lee (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield Memorial), and Longenecker. Washington outscored Ursinus, 24-10, in the two relay events combined.
Freshman Brent Hochstein (Townsend, Del./Salesianum School) was the Shoremen's big winner in individual events, recording three first-place finishes. He won the 200 breaststroke in 2:14.13 to become Washington's seventh-fastest swimmer ever in that event, took the 200 butterfly in 1:58.12, and finished first in the 200 individual medley in 1:58.47.
Sophomore Lucas Morgan (Allendale, N.J../Northern Highlands Regional) and Longenecker each turned in one individual first and one individual second-place finish. Morgan won the 100 breaststroke in 1:02.14 and was second in the 200 individual medley in 2:01.76, while Longenecker won the 100 freestyle in 48.94 and was second in the 50 freestyle in 22.39. Yocum and Lee each won one individual event for Washington. Yocum captured the 200 freestyle in 1:46.49, while Lee won the 100 butterfly in 53.22.
Burcin and freshman Pat Elliott (Media, Pa./Salesianum School [Del.]) turned in two individual second-place finishes each. Burcin was second in the 100 breaststroke in 1:02.38 and in the 200 breaststroke in 2:17.71, while Elliott placed second in the 100 backstroke in 54.26 and in the 200 backstroke in 1:58.69.
The 1994-95 Shoremen set the school record for consecutive dual meet wins with eight in a row. Prior to this year, the Shoremen had won eight total dual meets in a season six times, most recently during the 2000-01 season.
The Shoremen close out their dual-meet schedule one week from today with a 12:00 p.m. Centennial Conference meet at McDaniel.
