George Washington University
A-10 Championships
A-10 Champions: Men's Swim & Dive
2/19/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
GENEVA, Ohio - The George Washington men's swimming and diving team won its first-ever Atlantic 10 Conference title on Saturday evening, besting a field of eight teams at the 2017 A-10 Championships at the SPIRE Insititute.
The Colonials amassed 562.5 points during the four-day meet, beating out La Salle's 528 points. Massachusetts followed in third (449), followed by Fordham (414.5), Saint Louis (401), George Mason (394), St. Bonaventure (391), and Davidson (275).
"It's a pretty phenomenal feeling," said head coach James Winchester. "The biggest credit goes to the student-athletes. The program's turnaround couldn't have happened without them. The seeds for today were planted two years ago and it's much more than recruiting, it's our upperclassmen developing, it's the coaching staff buying in, it's also raising a standard to be better than what we were before and to be better people and to do this in the second year - I'm speechless."
Winchester was named A-10 Coach of the Year after guiding the Colonials to the conference crown in just his second season at the helm.
Senior Andrea Bolognesi was named the men's swimming Most Outstanding Performer after claiming seven gold medals - three individual and four relay - throughout the week. Moritz Fath was named Most Outstanding Rookie Performer after claiming a pair of gold medals.
The Colonials reached the podium five times on the final night of competition, including four gold medal performances.
Junior Gustav Hokfelt won the 200-yard backstroke with an A-10 and GW record time of 1:42.70 to take gold with an NCAA 'B' cut time. Freshman Andrew Cho took eighth (1:49.19), while sophomore Nicolas Reeves placed 15th in 1:51.32.
"Gustav, our captain, was a great leader this week," said Winchester. "To set two conference records and to not be favored in his event tonight and still set a new conference record was phenomenal."
Junior Adam Drury claimed gold in the 100 freestyle, posted a new program record in 44.34. Freshman Max Forstenhaeusler tied for sixth in 44.87 after briefly serving as GW's record holder with his preliminary time of 44.83. Sophomore Alexander Auster clocked in at 45.59 to take 13th overall.
Bolognesi took his third and final individual gold of the week in the 200 breaststroke, setting a new program record with his NCAA 'B' cut time of 1:57.69. Sophomore Josh Monacelli clocked in at 2:03.84 to take 12th overall.
"This was the first time Andrea swim this event in college and it was a big risk, but he managed to take the challenge on," said Winchester.
GW's last gold of the meet came in the 400 free relay as the team of Drury, Forstenhaeusler, Bolognesi and Hokfelt won the event in a school record time of 2:58.72.
"For Adam - his progress and what he's done for the program and how he's bought in to what we've been trying to accomplish here has been invaluable," said Winchester.
The Colonials also posted a strong showing in the 1,650 freestyle as rookie Shawn Lemarie set a new program record in 15:32.56 to take bronze. Fath took fifth in the event (15:38.99), followed by freshman Alex Cronin in 10th (15:57.28) and junior Clarke Indek in 15th (16:07.61).
Sophomore Jake Ortiz rounded out the day's top performances with his second championship final appearance of the meet. The diver took eighth place on the 3-meter boards on Saturday.
"Jake had a great week, making both championship finals," said head diving coach Anthony Crowder. "To help the team to its first A-10 title has been an amazing experience. The support from the entire GW swim and dive family has been unwavering, and we're looking forward to continuing to improve."
"I'm really thankful to the administration, our Athletics Director Patrick Nero and our sport administrator Danya Ellman for their continued support, along with our staff, my family, the support from our alumni and most of all our student-athletes, who deserve this moment of success," said Winchester.
Ortiz will continue his season at NCAA Zones from Match 6-8 at Virginia Tech. Swimmers who posted NCAA 'B' cut standards now await potential invitation to compete at the NCAA Championships in March.
Players Mentioned
