WESTMINSTER, Md. – Trailing by three heading into the day's final event, the foursome of Michael Curry (Charlotte, N.C. / Charlotte Catholic), Lucas Mestas-Nunez (Corpus Christi, Texas / Bluff), Victor Muleki (Irving, Texas / MacArthur), and Alex Bodine (Frederick, Md. / Urbana) came through in a big way, setting a school record in the 200-yard freestyle relay to lift the Blazers to a 50-45 victory over local rival McDaniel in men's swimming action.
The Blazers were down 45-43 with just seven points left to be scored by the winner of the 200 free relay. Hood's quartet finished in 1:30.78 for a win of almost three seconds over the Green Terror's top team. The Blazer time was 0.31 faster than the previous record, set last year at the Middle Atlantic Conference Championships.
Hood's win streak was on the line, but the Blazers extended it to eight-straight and improved to 9-1 on the year.
Earlier in the day, BJ Daisey (Lewes, Del. / Sussex Tech), already the school record holder in the 200-yard breaststroke, swam a school record time of 1:01.18 in the 100 breast. It was 0.26 ahead of the former standard.
Hood had started the day with a win in the 200-yard medley relay. Chris Gardner (Smyrna, Del. / Cab Calloway School of the Arts), Daisey, Daulton Swan (Farmington, Utah / Viewmont), and Jonathan Collier (Darby, Pa. / Home Schooled) joined forces for the winning effort of 1:42.37, over 10 seconds faster than McDaniel's relay in the event.
The only other event win of the day for Hood came in the 50-yard freestyle. Bodine went up and back in 22.33, tying the Green Terror's Stevie Hoyt for the victory. Mestas-Nunez was second in the race in 23.23.
While McDaniel had its share of event victories, the Blazers took both second and third in several events to prevent the Green Terror from pulling away.
Cameron Rogers (Severn, Md. / Archbishop Spalding) and Connor Eliff (Frederick, Md. / Frederick) took second and third in the 1,000-yard freestyle. Rogers had the runner-up time of 10:18.15. Rogers was also second in the 500 free in 5:01.91.
In the 200 free, Gardner fell by just 0.26 with his second place time of 1:50.70. Curry was third in 1:55.73.
Daisey and Eliff both scored in the 200-yard individual medley. Daisey claimed second with a time of 2:06.22, with Eliff taking third at 2:16.67. The same duo finished in the same places in the 100 breast later in the meet. In addition to Daisey's school record, Eliff swam a third place time of 1:09.15.
In the 100-yard butterly, Bodine and Swan went for second and third. Bodine notched a time of 55.63 to finish second, with Swan third in 58.07.
Collier and Curry were responsible for second and third place finishes in the 100 free. Collier touched the wall in 51.62 for second. In third was Curry at 52.44.
Gardner had his second runner up finish of the day in the 100-yard backstroke in 55.26. Jonathan Bullard-Sisken (Silver Spring, Md. / Montgomery Blair) claimed third with a time of 1:03.74.
The Blazers are idle until January 4, when Albright visits the Huntsinger Aquatics Center.
