The Emory University men's swimming and diving team put the finishing touches of its 27th consecutive University Athletic Association championship as the conference meet concluded Saturday night in Chicago, Illinois.
The Eagles saw four additional All-UAA finishes across the final six events to end the meet with 1,753.5 points and win by a 127.5-point margin against second-place New York University. Over the four day in Chicago, the Eagles won two event titles and recorded 12 All-UAA finishes.
Both event championships came from sophomore Solly Berkenwald as he swept the diving events for the second straight year en route to being named the Men's Diver of the Year for a second time. In addition, diving coach Tomasz Rossa secured another Men's Diving Coach of the Year honor and the team's coaching staff led by Jon Howell, Cindy Fontana, John Petroff, Bob Hackett and Rossa were named the Co-Coaching Staff of the Year. This marks the eighth time Howell and his staff have won the award on the men's side as well as their second straight win.
Despite capturing just two event titles, the Eagles utilized its tremendously deep roster to never being threatened over the course of the meet.
Sophomore Ben Pritchard secured the first of the team's four All-UAA honors during the evening as he took third in the 1650 Freestyle with a time of 15:27.02. Sophomore Zachary Spicer highlighted five Eagles inside the top nine in the 200 Backstroke with his third place finish with a time of 1:47.26 and in the 100 Freestyle, junior Hayden Tupper was one of four Eagles inside the top 11 as he placed third with a mark of 44.48.
Senior Henri Bonnault was one of three Emory caps in the A final of the 200 Breaststroke and led the group with a fifth place showing at 1:59.90. Junior McKee Thorsen had the team's best finish of the evening as he was the runner-up in the 200 Fly, touching at 1:45.75.
The Eagles' group of Tupper, Thorsen, freshman Trenton Cassens and graduate student Jared Zhang concluded the day four events with a fourth place finish in the 400 Free Relay, combining for a time of 2:58.65.
With UAAs concluded, the Eagles will turn their sights to the final last chance meet next week as Emory will host its February Invitational on the 20th and 21st before gearing up for the NCAA Championships next month in Indianapolis.
