Men's Swimming & Diving in First After Day One of Bruno Invitational

Friday, December 2

Brown University

Bruno Invitational

Men's Swimming & Diving in First After Day One of Bruno Invitational

12/2/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving

Invite Central

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Brown men's swimming & diving team is in first place after the opening day of the Bruno Invitational at the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center on Friday. The Bears totaled 308.5 points while Princeton is in second with 251 and Columbia is in third with 167.

"The staff is happy with the complete team effort we displayed the first night of our invite," said head coach Chris Ip. "We are enjoying this top to bottom depth the program is developing."

A team of senior Daniel Klotz (Berlin, Conn.), freshman Jagger Stephens (Agana Heights, Hagatna, Guam), sophomore William Steele (Katy, Texas) and freshman Cody Cline (Wellington, Fla.) started off the night with a win in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:20.41, just .70 shy of the school record and almost a second faster than the team swam at the 2016 Ivy Championships. Klotz opened the relay with a 19.91. Brown's B 200 freestyle relay of sophomore Charles Steele (Katy, Texas), senior Jack Nee (Pepper Pike, Ohio), freshman Joon Sung (Los Angeles, Calif.) and freshman Alex Smilenov (Katy, Texas) placed fourth overall in the event, with Smilenov anchoring in a 19.93. The relay was third in the dual meet against Princeton and second in the dual meet against Dartmouth.

Freshman Troy Li (Carmel, Ind.) swam to a third-place finish in the 500 yard freestyle with a top-25 program time of 4:32.19, besting his personal best by over a second. The finish was second against Dartmouth and Princeton. Smilenov and junior Grant Casey (North Attleboro, Mass.) finished in sixth (4:37.27) and seventh (4:39.70), respectively, to earn points for the Bears. Smilenov's time in the prelims (4:33.94) was a lifetime best. Sophomore Matt Orringer (Ann Arbor Mich.) placed ninth overall but third in both the dual meet scores with a 4:32.52. Sophomore Liam Hollowsky (Naples, Fla.) rounded out the top-16 swimmers placing 12th in 4:35.70.

Freshman Coley Sullivan (Louisville, Ky.) turned in a NCAA B qualifying time in the 200 IM to finish second (1:48.34), the second fastest time in program history which is a mark set by junior Riley Springman (Orlando, Fla.), who finished in third with a time of 1:49.83. Both swimmers got under the 1:50.00 barrier and place 1-2 in dual meet scoring. Both Sung and senior Nick Johnston placed seventh (151.65) and eighth (1:52.80) in the final, respectively.

The Bears went 1-2 in the 50 freestyle with Klotz taking the top spot in 19.82 with a NCAA B time, as he is second all-time in the event and remains just .05 off of the program record. Cline finished in second with a time of 20.29. The Steele brothers rounded out the A-Final in seventh (William - 20.72) and eighth (Charles - 20.77). Nee won the B-Final in 20.55 and Smilenov placed 12th in 20.87.

In diving, junior Bryce Campanelli (Palmyra, Va.) finished seventh in 1-meter with a score of 248.30 while senior Jonathon Schlafer (Uniontown, Ohio) placed eighth (227.30).

To cap off the night, a team of Sullivan, sophomore Waylon Jin (Berwyn, Pa.), Sung and Stephens finished second in the 400 medley relay (3:19.12). A team of Johnston, sophomore Carson Christuk (Newbury, Mass.), W. Steele and C. Steele, although an exhibition swim in the invite, swam the third fastest time and were able to take third in the dual meet against Princeton and 2nd in the dual meet against Dartmouth.

"The culture of the program is changing and you see a complete team with the shared philosophy of 'next man up," said Ip.

The Bears will compete in the second day of the invite tomorrow (Dec. 3), with prelims staring at 11:00 a.m. and finals beginning at 6:00 p.m.