Men's Swimming Places Second At NEAC Championships

The Wells College men's swimming team placed second at the 2019 North Eastern Athletic Conference Championships, hosted by Cazenovia College. Over the course of the three-day meet, the six Wells swimmers totaled 15 all-conference honors in individual events and had five relays earn one first-place finish and four second-place finishes.

Wells held a two-point lead over SUNY Cobleskill in team scoring heading into the final relay, but Cobleskill won the event and earned six more points than Wells to push Cobleskill to first place in the team standings. SUNY Cobleskill had 358 points, Wells had 354, Gallaudet was third with 244, and Cazenovia earned 55 points.

Aaron Connolly highlighted Sunday's action with a win in the 100-yard individual medley. His time of 1:06.98 was 1.22 seconds faster than his previous career best and moved him up to third on the Wells record board in the 100 IM. Connolly was also second in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:39.42. Connolly earned all-NEAC honors in all seven of his events during the meet with wins in the 100 breast, 100 IM, and on the 400-yard medley relay.

Richie Ford was second in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:42.13 in the event finals. Ford's time was an improvement of more than 17 seconds over his previous career best and moved him from eighth to seventh on the all-time top-10 at Wells. Ford had seven all-conference finishes including a win in the 400 IM and on the 400-yard medley relay.

Bennett Ervin was second in the 100-yard freestyle in 59.28 seconds. He swam 59.10 in the prelims. Ervin had seven all-conference awards at the meet and was on the winning 400-yard medley relay.

Joshua Rose was third in the 200-yard breaststroke in 3:34.92. He earned three all-conference finishes over the course of the meet.

Brandon Sprague was third in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 22:20.09. He had seven all-conference finishes in the meet and was on the winning 400-yard medley relay.

Jose Ramirez totaled four all-conference finishes at the meet including a second-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly.

The final relay of Ford, Sprague, Connolly, and Ervin finished in 4:07.99 and was second.

Over the 10-year history of the NEAC championship meet, the Wells men's swimming team has been first or second seven times. This year's second-place finish is the fourth time in program history that the Express has claimed runner-up status. Wells has also won three team titles at the NEACs.

In addition to a second-place finish at the NEAC Championships, Wells won three dual meets during the 2018-19 season.

Day 3 Results (.pdf)

Complete Meet Results (.pdf)

Championship Meet Webpage (with photo galleries)