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Army-Navy Swimming Meets Slated for Thursday in Annapolis

Women's meet to begin at 3:45 p.m., men's meet to follow at 7:15 p.m.

	Navy women's team captain Kristin Lowd

Nov. 28, 2007

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy swimming and diving programs will play host to Army Thursday evening in Lejeune Hall in the annual Star Meet between the two service academies. The women's meet begins at 3:45 p.m., with the men's meet slated to follow at 7:15 p.m.

A link to live results from both meets will be available on www.navysports.com through the Gametracker/Broadcast section found on the home page of the site.

The Navy women's team, 10-0 on the season, holds a 22-4 advantage in the series with Army and enters Thursday's meet having won the last 18 duals with the Black Knights. The Midshipmen won all 16 events contested during last year's meet at Army to post a 215-85 victory over the Black Knights. The seven Navy athletes who combined to win the 14 individual events last year all return for the Mids this season.

Mallory Dietrich (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.) won a trio of races last year against Army, with Tara Chapmon (So., Virginia Beach, Va.), Jennie Spencer (Jr., Smithburg, W. Va.), Kelly Zahalka (Jr., Richmond, Va.), Thuy-Mi Dinh (So., Anaheim, Calif.) and Katie Griffin (Sr., Ellicott City, Md.) all winning a pair of events. Additionally, Sarah Dorenkott (So., Hudson, Ohio) won the 200 free for the Mids.

"This is always a big meet for our team," said Navy women's head coach John Morrison. "We know what is on the line. Army will be well prepared to do whatever it takes to win. We need to be on the top of our game and execute well to give ourselves the opportunity to be successful. It will be a fast and fun meet."

Navy's men's team, also 10-0 this year, recorded a 196-104 victory over Army last season to defeat the Black Knights for the 16th-consecutive year and take a 40-29 lead in the all-time series. The Mids posted wins in 11 of the 16 events last year in West Point, but only return four athletes who won an individual event during the meet. Kevin Kysiak (Sr., Western Springs, Ill.) won the 100 breaststroke for the Mids, with teammates Alex Oldenkamp (Jr., Coppell, Texas) winning the 50 freestyle, Preston Mihalko (Jr., Chesapeake, Va.) winning the 100 free and Adam Meyer (So., Bethesda, Md.) winning the 200 individual medley.

Among its four individual event winners from last year's meet, only Jacob Mentele returns for Army this year. Mentele, who has already been tabbed as the Patriot League Swimmer of the Week three times this season, won the 200 breaststroke against the Mids a year ago.

"It's Army vs. Navy! We are excited for many reasons and are looking forward to the opportunity to swim and dive Thursday night," said Navy men's swimming head coach Bill Roberts.

Following the conclusion of the Army-Navy meet, multiple members of both Navy programs will travel to Atlanta to take part in this weekend's USA Swimming Short Course National Championship. The meet will be contested in short course yards (25-yard length pool) at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, the swimming venue for the 1996 Olympic Games. The field will feature many of the top national and collegiate level swimmers from across the country, including Olympians Michael Phelps, Gary Hall Jr., Natalie Coughlin and Katie Hoff.