Mountain Hawks fall to BU, but finish strong in first meet of season

Saturday, October 6

Boston, Mass.

1:30 p.m.

Lehigh University

144

162

Boston University

Mountain Hawks fall to BU, but finish strong in first meet of season

10/6/2018 10:48:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving

Results

BOSTON — Though the Lehigh men's swimming and diving team fell to Boston University 162-144 on Saturday afternoon in the first meet of the year, there were a ton of positives that came out of the day, including individual performances that could set the tone for the rest of the season into the rest of the Patriot League slate.

Starting with the 200 yard medley relay, the team of Joe Huber, Connor Sept, Max Goldenberg, and Greg Giannella swam to a third place finish with a time of 1:34.33, nearly two seconds behind the winning time of 1:34.33.

Junior Walker Wilson dominated in two events for the Mountain Hawks Saturday with a winning time of 1:39.80 in the 200-yard freestyle event, a second ahead of freshman Glenn Lasco, who swam to a time of 1:40.72 in the event. Wilson was also victorious in the 500 yard freestyle, at 4:35.02, five seconds ahead of Kevin Fleck at 4:40.14. Notably, Wilson's time of 1:52.41 in the Men's 200 yard butterfly was good enough for second place on the day.

"The men's team showed much improvement and proved today that they can compete with the top teams in the league," said head coach Rob Herb. "We are really deep and we definitely need to continue this momentum going forward.

"I thought Walker (Wilson) was really strong today, especially when it came to distance and showed strength in mid-distance events."

Freshman Owen Thomas came through with a second place finish in the 100 yard backstroke event, finishing with a time of 52.63, whole James Mauk and Joe Huber came in fourth and fifth with times of 52.90 and 53.47, respectively.

Tyler Christ came through with a victory in the 100 yard breaststroke event with a time of 59.13.

"Tyler really came through today with the strength in his breaststroke," said Herb.

Christ's performance in that event really helped the Mountain Hawks gather some points against the Terriers.

As one of the main freshman additions this year, Lasco really swam as well as you could ask for in his first collegiate meet, finishing first in the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 21.05, just eeking out fellow freshman Joey Rogers, who swam a 21.34 for the event. Lasco was also victorious on the 100 yard freestyle with a winning time of 45.95, while Rogers placed third at 47.01.

Nico Lastauskas, Tyler Christ, and Connor Sept placed second, third, and fourth in the 200 yard breaststroke with times of 2:11.68, 2:11.90, and 2:12.90.

In the 100 yard butterfly event, Max Goldenberg came in second with a time of 51.23, while Teddy Smith was third quickest, coming in at a 51.69 pace.

Lastauskas finished third in the 200 yard individual medley, with a time of 1:58.43, just trailing the winner at the 1:57.51 mark. As for the 400 yard freestyle relay, the team of Wilson, O'Brien, Goldenberg, and Smith finished second with a time of 3:08.75 with the team of Rogers, Lasco, Giannella, and Croldy Veliz coming in third at 3:10.75.
As for diving, the Mountain Hawks got a big win in the 3 meter dive as Tyler Keller took home first place with his score of 282.60. Addison Cochran finished third in the event with a score of 208.00. Keller and Cochran finished second and third in the 1 meter dive with scores of 256.60 and 209.75.

"Tyler Keller is healthy and definitely showed our diving program will finish big this year after both of their performances today," Herb said.

The team loss is tough, but the good news is that the way the team is swimming individually will increase the chances of team success in the future.

The Mountain Hawks will return back to Jacobs Pool on Friday, Oct. 19 to take on West Chester and then Rider on Saturday, Oct. 20.

Like Lehigh Swimming and Diving on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.