GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Washington and Lee men's swimming team repeated as the Old Dominion Athletic Conference champions following the completion of the fourth and final day of championship events on Saturday.
 
Highlights from the meet:
-The Generals posted 16 Top 5 finishes on the day, including two races claiming each of the top-three positions, with three wins across the six events. In total, W&L totaled 964 points across the four-day meet to take the top position. Lynchburg came in second with 606 points, followed by Roanoke with 542 points.
 
-Sophomore Luke Nagel (Wayne, Pa. / Conestoga) highlighted the individual performances with a program-record time of 16:05.27 in taking third place in the 1650 free. That time was also good for an NCAA B-cut mark.
 
-Sophomore Baxter Smelzer (Greensboro, N.C. / Page) led off for the winning 400 free relay (3:02.25), in addition to posting a win in the 100 free (45.18). Smelzer, along with first-years Charles Byars (Oxford, Miss. / Oxford) and Dalton Jobe (Henrico, Va. / Collegiate School) and senior Dalton Kramer (Taylors, S.C. / Eastside), also notched an NCAA B-cut time in the 400 free relay.
 
-Sophomore Reese Nelson (Fort Worth, Texas / Fort Worth Country Day) rounded out the winners, taking the top spot in the 200 fly (1:52.47).
 
-The 100 free and 200 fly were the two races in which W&L had each of the first three finishers. Byars (45.64) and Jobe (45.91) followed Smelzer in the 100 free, while senior Colin Whiting (Henrico, Va. / Douglas S. Freeman) (1:54.32) and first-year Thomas Denton (Essex, Vt. / Essex) (1:55.48) trailed Nelson in the 200 fly.
 
-At the conclusion of the meet, Jobe was recognized as the ODAC Men's Swimming Rookie of the Meet. This marks the second straight championship that W&L has taken home the men's rookie of the meet award, after sophomore Matt Snyder (Bernardsville, N.J. / Bernards) earned it last season.
 
Top 5 finishes:
-Smelzer, Byars, Jobe, Kramer – 1st place 400 free relay (3:02.25; NCAA B-cut)
-Baxter Smelzer – 1st place 100 free (45.18)
-Reese Nelson – 1st place 200 fly (1:52.47)
-Charles Byars – 2nd place 100 free (45.64)
-Patrick Murphy – 2nd place 200 breast (2:05.67)
-Colin Whiting – 2nd place 200 fly (1:54.32)
-Luke Nagel – 3rd place 1650 free (16:05.27; program record; NCAA B-cut)
-Will Hughes – 3rd place 200 back (1:53.91)
-Dalton Jobe – 3rd place 100 free (45.91)
-Thomas Denton – 3rd place 200 fly (1:55.48)
-Stephen Ewing – 4th place 1650 free (16:21.87)
-Matt Fritz – 4th place 200 back (1:54.60)
-Todd Echols – 4th place 200 breast (2:07.41)
-Jackson Hall – 5th place 200 back (1:55.10)
-Matt Snyder – 5th place 100 free (46.72)
-Bennett Ehret – 5th place 200 fly (1:56.49)
 
Up next:
W&L will now wait to see if the provisional qualifying times hold up for the NCAA Division III Championships, which will be held March 15-18 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.