Jan. 7, 2010
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
The Maryland men's swimming and diving team is ready to pick up where it left off in 2009 when it plays host to Navy Saturday. The Terps first dual meet of the 2010 season begins at 1 p.m. at Eppley Recreation Natatorium.
In its last action, Maryland won the 2009 Terrapin Cup Invitational. The Terps recently received votes in the latest CSCAA/CollegeSwimming.com Top 25 Poll.
Maryland boasts 16 individual top-ten times in the ACC this season, highlighted by multiple appearances from seniors Aleksandar Damjanic, Chris Rouchard and Brian Honore, junior Mitch Challacombe and sophomore Andrew Relihan.
Damjanic currently ranks among the conference-best in the 200 free (7th-1:38.78) and 100 fly (4th-48.96). Challacombe has three top-ten times this season, led by a 20.48 in the 50 free which ranks fifth in the ACC. The junior also ranks sixth in the 100 free (45.26) and 100 back (49.38).
Relihan, who landed on the podium at ACCs last season, boasts three top-ten times in the 200 back (4th-1:47.72), 200 IM (6th-1:50.12) and 400 IM (5th- 3:58.07).
In the distance events, Honore and Rouchard combine for a total of four top-ten performances. Honore ranks eighth in both the 200 free and 500 free with times of 1:39.37 and a B-cut 4:27.09, respectively. Rouchard ranks sixth in the 500 free with a B-cut time of 4:26.72 and seventh in the 1650 free (15:39.60).
Navy enters Saturday's dual meet undefeated at 10-0. The Midshipmen rank first among all mid-major programs, according to the latest CSCAA / CollegeSwimming.com Mid-Major Poll. Navy also received votes in the Top 25 Poll. Navy is paced by Adam Meyer who earned National Swimmer-of-the-Week honors from CollegeSwimming.com after tallying a trio of NCAA `B' cut qualifying times and an equal number of school records versus Army in the Mids last outing.
Maryland has three more competitions on its slate before heading to Chapel Hill for the 2010 ACC Swimming and Diving Championships. Following a trip to Pittsburgh for a quad against Pitt, Villanova and Penn State, Maryland closes out the regular season by hosting West Virginia Jan. 23 and Georgetown Feb. 6.
