Army Swimming & Diving sweeps Navy in the Star Meet for the first time since 1988

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army West Point Swimming & Diving made history Dec. 5 at Crandall Pool as they swept Navy in the 2024 Star Meet to collect both stars up for grabs in the Star Series, presented by USAA. The Black Knights collected wins simultaneously over Navy for the first time in 36 years with 27 first-place finishes, 12 program records and 11 Crandall Pool records.

Crandall Pool was abuzz with energy from the commencement of the diving events all the way through the final shrill of the officials' whistle. After a brief pause due to technical difficulties delayed the start of the night's swimming events, the Black Knights flew into action, seemingly unstoppable as the night progressed.

The Black Knights' 85-point differential in their Thursday win over Navy stands as Army Men's Swimming & Diving's largest margin of victory over the Midshipmen in program history. Army's previous largest win came in 2022 with the Black Knights' 78-point lead over Navy.

Army dominated the top spot on the podium as the Black Knights' men's team claimed 15 of the 16 first-place finishes up for grabs for the men while the Black Knights' women's team claimed 12 of the 16 first-place finishes up for contention Thursday night.

Women: Army 169, Navy 131
Minh Donnell and Marianne Orr earned second- and third-place on the 1-meter board with scores of 245.00 and 244.85 before claiming second- and third-place on the high board with scored of 253.45 and 234.65, respectively.

The women's swimmers kicked off the night's swim events with a first-place finish in the women's 200 medley relay on a program and pool record-setting time of 1:39.43 from Angie McKane, Catriona Gilmore, Sydney Braeger and Meghan Cole.

Molly Webber then claimed first place in the women's 1000 free with a time of 10:01.46 before earning second place in the women's 200 free with a 1:47.93, touching the wall just over a second behind Clara Williams' program-record setting time of 1:46.73, which secured her first place.

Angie McKane and Jenna Hart earned first place and third place, respectively, in the women's 100 back with their times of 54.05 and 55.16. McKane's time broke the former pool record of 54.10, set by Army Swimming & Diving's Kelly Hamilton in 2016.

Gilmore graced the top three once more in the women's 100 breast, claiming second place with a gutsy 1:01.21 showing to prevent a Navy sweep of the top spots.

Army then saw success from across their roster as freshman Sydney Braeger claimed first place in the women's 200 fly with a program and plebe record-setting time of 1:58.64 and senior captain Margaret Kroening secured third place with a season-best 2:00.63.

Cole returned to the water with a vengeance in the women's 50 free, breaking the previous program and pool records for the event that she set in 2022 at 22.54 with a 22.52 in the night's events.

Williams then notched a first-place finish in the women's 100 free for Army with her time of 50.10 – one one-hundredth of a second behind the program record of 50.09 set by Williams last season.

Junior Layne Peterson then recorded a time of 1:58.39 in the women's 200 back, joined in the top three by freshman Jenna Hart with a 1:59.98.

Army next earned second place in the women's 200 breast as Catriona Gilmore posted a time of 2:13.46 to earn four points for the Black Knights.

Webber and Williams went off in the women's 500 free to claim first and second place exactly one second apart with times of 4:51.87 and 4:52.87.

McKane and Cole were the next Black Knight pair to claim places in the top three as McKane earned first place in the women's 100 fly on a program, plebe and Crandall Pool record-setting time of 52.51 with Cole claiming third place with a 54.13.

Gilmore grabbed the top spot in the women's 200 IM with a time of 2:00.94 before Williams, Webber, Hart and Cole brought home a first-place finish in the night's final women's event, clocking a 3:21.11 in the women's 400 free relay.

Men: Army 192.5, Navy 107.5
David Manelis and Jack McDaniel opened things up for the men's divers, claiming first place and third place on the men's 1-meter board with scores of 320.25 and 288.30 after Manelis earned third place on the high board with a score of 297.00.

Army's men's swimmers picked up the challenge the women's team laid out with their record-setting first performance Thursday night, setting a program and Crandall Pool record of their own with their first race as Johnny Crush, Kohen Rankin, Daniel Verdolaga and Owen Harlow combined for a blazing 1:23.85 to claim first place by over a second.

Brice Barrieault then swam a commanding 9:01.91 to earn first place in the men's 1,000 free, passing the lane then to Wes Tate who swam a program and Crandall Pool record time of 1:37.37 in the men's 200 free to claim first place, followed closely by Thomas Hadji with a time of 1:35.21 to earn second place.

The Black Knights next swept the podium in the men's 100 back. Johnny Crush led the way with a program, plebe and Crandall Pool record setting time of 44.53 to earn first place, Joey Kling claimed second place with a blazing 47.31, and Alex Edwards rounded out the trifecta with a 48.26 to clinch third place.

Kohen Rankin set a new Crandall Pool record with his time of 51.80 in the men's 100 breast, just shy of his program record setting time of 51.62 set in the same event at the 2023-24 ECAC Championships.

Riley Groves notched the Black Knights' next first-place finish, posting a program record setting time of 1:44.25 in the men's 200 fly. Jack Pogue was hot on Groves' heels for second place, but he was not alone in chasing Groves' wake as Navy's Ben Irwin tied Pogue for second place with both swimmers logging a 1:44.50 in the event.

Army's next first-place finish came from Ben Vorthmann with a gritty showing in the men's 50 free to dig out a time of 19.61 to claim first place by just under four tenths of a second.

Vorthmann jumped right back into the action after the break to claim first place in the men's 100 free with a 43.24, followed closely by Hadji who claimed second place with a 43.38.

As the meet wore on, Crush next claimed first place in the men's 200 back with a program, plebe and Crandall Pool record-setting time of 1:40.28 and he was joined in the top three by Kling, who clinched third place with a time of 1:44.05.

Hahn and Rankin put on a show in the men's 200 breast, smashing the Crandall Pool record and staying neck-and-neck to the final touch of the race as Hahn emerged with the first-place finish on a 1:54.30 and Rankin claimed second place with a 1:54.52.

Wes Tate took his chance to wow the crowd gathered at Crandall Pool, claiming first place in the men's 500 free with a definitive 4:17.80 in the event to cement his win by over six seconds and finish just one one-hundredth of a second behind Army's program record of 4:17.70, which he set at last year's Patriot League Championships.

Daniel Verdolaga made a splash for Army as the meet wore on, earning first place in the men's 100 fly with a time of 46.37 to set a new program and plebe record. Groves followed closely on Verdolaga's heels, touching the wall at 47.34 to take second place in the event.

Joey Kling and Alex Edwards kept the crowd's interest peek as the meet neared its zenith, battling for the lead throughout the men's 200 IM before Kling claimed victory with a 1:46.27 and Edwards earned second place with a 1:46.51.

The Black Knights dominated the final event of the night as Johnny Crush, Ben Vorthmann, Kohen Rankin and Thomas Hadji recorded a program and Crandall Pool record time of 2:51.54 to claim first place by over three and a half seconds.