Armstrong’s School Record Highlights Day Two

Friday, November 22

Morgantown, W.Va.

All Day

West Virginia University

WVU Invitational

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

November 22, 2019 10:20 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

Friday Results Diving Results Live Results

By: Olivia VanHorn

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Freshman Hunter Armstrong broke a school record and collected three victories to lead the West Virginia University men's and women's swimming and diving teams on day two of the WVU Invitational at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park on Friday night, in Morgantown.

Armstrong's record-breaking performance came in the 200-yard freestyle, as he bested the previous school record of 1:36.18 – set by Zoltan Povazsay in 2006 – with a time of 1:35.80. He also collected a relay win as a member of the 200-yard medley team and two individual wins in the 200 free and 100 backstroke.

In all, WVU tallied five total victories on the night, as four different Mountaineers contributed to the squad's wins total.

"Our morning session set us up for what turned out to be a really strong night," WVU coach Vic Riggs said. "As a team, it was our best session so far this weekend. The energy was great, and we raced extremely well, as the results show. We had many in-season and lifetime-best times tonight, which is a great place to be right now."

Friday's finals session began with the 200-yard medley relays, and the women's team comprised of junior Ally VanNetta, freshman Mathilde Kaelbel and seniors Morgan Bullock and Julia Nilton tallied a third-place finish with a time of 1:42.88.

The men's team of junior Angelo Russo, sophomore Fausto Huerta, junior David Dixon and freshman Hunter Armstrong then collected WVU's first win of the night, combining to post a 1:26.99.

Finals action in the diving well began following the relays, as the men competed on 1-meter and the women took part in the 3-meter finals. Freshman Holly Darling paced the women, finishing in third place with a score of 283.95. Sophomore Camille Burt followed in sixth (254.05)

On the men's side, sophomore PJ Lenz placed second, posting an NCAA Zones-qualifying score of 308.55, ahead of sophomore Nick Cover in fourth (283.00).

"I'm really please with the divers today," diving coach Michael Grapner said. "The men and women did an outstanding job competing in the prelims and several earned their spots back in the finals. PJ (Lenz) earned his Zones score tonight, which really helps boost his confidence moving into 3-meter tomorrow."

Individual swimming competition began with the 100-yard butterfly. In the women's A final, Bullock was narrowly edged out of first, as she took second with a time of 54.38. Freshmen Emily Haimes (4th – 55.49) and Harna Minezawa (7th – 56.91) and VanNetta (8th – 57.02) joined Bullock in the A final.

Dixon grabbed a second win for the Mountaineers in the men's event after touching the wall in 46.73, matching his lifetime best. Russo (5th – 48.96), senior Trayton Saladin (7th – 49.30) and junior Christopher O'Shea (8th – 49.43) also appeared in the A final.

Senior Alex Pampalone represented WVU in the B final of the 400 individual medley, grabbing a win as she touched the pads in 4:24.77. Reka Kovacs also swam in the B final, finishing in 4:35.09 to take eighth.

In the men's 400 IM, junior Phillip Kay took sixth place in the A final with a time of 3:59.20. Additionally, freshmen Jack Saum (3rd – 4:01.26) and Jonathan Bennett (4th – 4:02.17) and sophomore Josh Harlan (6th – 4:02.38) competed in the B final.

Up next were the 200 free finals, and in the women's event, junior Giselle Gursoy placed second in the A final as she touched the pad in 1:49.97. Haimes (1:51.14) and sophomore Luisa Winkler (1:51.80) then took first and second, respectively, in the B final.

Armstrong's record came next, as he led the men's field with a record-breaking time of 1:35.80. Junior Max Gustafson was right behind him in second place, finishing in 1:39.44.

Kaelbel represented the Mountaineers in the women's 100 breast, tallying a time of 1:04.27 to take seventh place in the A final. Huerta then tacked on another victory for the Mountaineers in the men's final, as he touched the wall in 54.34. Freshman Conrad Molinaro also swam in the A final, finishing sixth (55.77).

In the women's 100 back, VanNetta finished seventh (56.59) in the A final, while freshman Meredith Bolinger grabbed a victory in the B final in 56.55. Freshman Ginger Hansen (5th - 57.71) and sophomore Megan Zartman (8th - 58.23) also appeared in the B final.

Armstrong added another victory to his impressive evening in the men's 100 back, finishing in 46.93 to tally his third win of the contest. Behind him in the A final were Russo in third (47.96), senior Austin Hartke in fifth (49.30) and Saladin in seventh 49.36.

Friday night's finals concluded with the 800 free relays. The women competed first, and the team of Bullock, Gursoy, Bliss and Winkler placed third with a time of 7:31.12. The men's team of Saladin, Gustafson, Dixon and junior Ryen van Wyk were neck-and-neck with Kenyon College's relay team, but ultimately finished in second place (6:38.50).

After two nights of competition, the Mountaineers sit in first place with a combined total of 2,342 team points. The men tallied 1,419 points to lead the men's teams, while the women added 923 points, good for second place behind William & Mary. The Tribe sits in second place overall with 1,783 combined team points, and Kenyon College is third with 1,716.

WVU is joined at this weekend's meet by swimming and diving programs from Carnegie Mellon, Kenyon College, Old Dominion, Villanova and William & Mary. Diving teams from James Madison, Massachusetts, Navy and St. Bonaventure also are in attendance.

Competition at the Aquatic Center comes to an end on Saturday, with prelim action beginning at 10 a.m. and the finals session commencing at 5 p.m.

Live results from the WVU Invitational are available at WVUsports.com/swim, as well as on the Meet Mobile App. Diving results also will be available throughout the weekend on DiveMeets.com.

For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUSwimDive on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.