LANCASTER, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall won the last event of the night to break a 94-94 deadlock and claim a 105-100 victory over Ursinus on Friday night in Centennial Conference (CC) men's swimming action. The win lifted the Diplomats to 3-4, 2-3 CC while the Bears fell to 4-4, 2-4 CC.
With the score tied 94-94 entering the final event of the meet, the team of Ryan Caffrey, David Burton, Matthew Murphy, and Daniel Sanders needed to win the 200-yard freestyle relay to secure the team victory for F&M. They managed to do just that, posting a time of 1:27.75 to win by .19 of a second and make the final score 105-100 in favor of the Diplomats.
F&M opened the evening the same way it ended it, relying on the team of Timothy Gould, Eric Lang, Richard Perry, and Caffrey to win the 200-yard medley relay in 1:39.06, grabbing the first points of the night.
Lang also added a vital pair of individual victories to keep the Diplomats within striking distance of the Bears. In the 200-yard IM, Lang posted a time of 2:01.59 to take first place while Jack Currie claimed second in 2:03.63.
Lang's second victory of the night came in the 100-yard breaststroke, the evening's penultimate event. The sophomore finished first with a time of 1:01.35, while Patrick Greaney (1:02.08) swooped in to take second and boost F&M back onto even terms with Ursinus.
In addition to anchoring the all-important final relay, Sanders earned a first- and second-place finish individually. The freshman's victory came in the 100-yard freestyle (48.85), while his time of 1:48.39 was good for second in the 200-yard freestyle. In the 200-yard edition he was joined by Perry, who took third with a time of 1:48.54.
Not to be outdone, Perry took home individual gold in the 100-yard butterfly, winning with a time of 53.43.
Greaney added two more runner-up finishes in addition to his efforts in the 100-yard breaststroke. In the 1000-yard freestyle the senior took second in 10:16.73, while his time of 4:59.76 in the 500-yard freestyle was also good for silver.
Gould found individual success a well, spearheading Diplomat efforts in the 100-yard backstroke as his time of 54.75 earned him second place.
Murphy, Caffrey, and Currie all added third-place finishes as F&M overcame the Bears.
The Diplomats return to action tomorrow, traveling to Gettysburg for a 1:00 p.m. showdown with the Bullets.
