WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Catholic University men's swimming & diving team closed out its regular season Saturday afternoon against NCAA Division I Howard University. The Cardinals traveled to Burr Pool in Northwest and lost to the Bison by a final score of 155-125.
The loss closed out Catholic's dual meet season as head coach Paul Waas led the men's squad to a 6-2 record. Last year, Catholic defeated the Bison 187-107 at home to wrap up their regular season campaign.
The men opened the meet with a second place finish in the 200-medley relay, touching for a 1:39.12 time. Gregory McCarthy (25.87), George Isaacs (27.60), Kevin Jay (23.75), and Matthew Mahon (21.90) combined to take four points for the visitors.
Sophomore James Verby followed with a second place finish of his own in the 1000-freestyle. His 10:16.43 time was just a tenth of a second slower than Howard's winning time. The distance freestyle specialist came out on top in his next individual event, however, the 500-free. Verby's 5:00.36 time beat the competition by more than two seconds for a top finish.
McCarthy also made his mark collecting points for the Cardinals, adding two more second-place finishes before coming away with a victory at the end of the meet. The sophomore from Silver Spring, Md. touched second in the 100-backstroke (54.70) and shaved five whole seconds from his 200-breaststroke a week ago against Randolph-Macon with a second place 2:12.98 time.
Freshman Jeffrey Schriefer-Flores earned the team's first event win of the afternoon in the 200-backstroke. His 1:59.54 time topped Howard's second place swimmer by four seconds. McCarthy followed soon after with a no-doubt win of his own in the 200-IM, eclipsing the competition by more than five seconds (1:59.16).
Catholic collected 14 points on the boards, taking first, third, and fourth in the 1-meter diving event. Will Chester placed first with a 179.25 score, his highest of the year. Patrick Fischer (124.87) and Brett Russell (108.15) followed to earn points for the Cardinals.
Catholic heads to the Landmark Conference Championships to compete for the league's Championship Titles. The men's team will compete for a third straight conference championship. The three-day conference championship meet is set to kick off Friday, February 16 at the Germantown Indoor Swim Center. Information about the championship schedule and ticket pricing can be found on the Landmark Conference website.
