Men's Swimming Pre-Championship Webcast 

Mary Washington captured its 15th straight CAC Men's Swimming Championship last winter, led by three-time Athlete of the Year Alex Anderson, who won seven gold medals at the event. Anderson and York’s Kyle Walthall went on to represent the CAC at the NCAA National Championships, with Anderson notching one gold and two silver medals, and Walthall collecting a pair of All-America honors.

Despite the loss of Anderson to graduation, Mary Washington remains the preemptive favorite for this year’s championship meet. The Eagles were the unanimous favorite in the preseason poll, and posted a perfect 5-0 mark against conference competition this season. UMW returns eight All-CAC performers to this year’s meet, while York, Salisbury and Marymount also welcome back multiple all-conference honorees.

The championship meet is set to begin this weekend (Feb. 19-21) at St. Mary’s. The action begins Friday (2/19) and continues with two sessions per day through Sunday afternoon (2/21). 

Here is a brief look at each team heading into the 2015 championship:

FROSTBURG STATE head coach Justin Anderson has several men on the roster in scoring position for the Bobcats, led by Christian March who is currently ranked second in the CAC for 100 and 200-yard breaststroke events. March, the current record-holder in both the 100 (56.32) and 200 (2:03.91) breaststroke events, will look to re-break his own team records and gain a berth in the NCAA Championships held in March. In the distance freestyle events, sophomore Daniel Ryczek is in scoring contention for both the 500 and 1650 distances, with times of 5:14.75 and 18:52.59, respectively. The backstroke duo of sophomores James Williams and Deionn Yarberough both will hope to contribute points in the 100 and 200-yard backstroke events for FSU. In the 100-yard distance, Yarberough currently ranks 14th in the CAC with a 57.74, while Williams is right behind him in 15th in 57.81.

MARY WASHINGTON will look to continue its CAC dominance, and will look to a strong group to do so. The Eagles will rely on defending All-CAC selections Dallas Tarkenton, Sean Mayer, Kenyon Huber-Wilker, Vance Solseth, Tyler Gimple, Chris Cassingham, Zach Eisig, and Matthew Garstka. The Eagles are looking for their 16th straight CAC crown, and their 22nd title overall.

MARYMOUNT capped off a successful regular season with back-to-back victories in the final weekend of meets, taking wins over Frostburg State and York. The squad is currently paced by individual top performers, sophomore Tyler Hayes and senior Matt Essig. Hayes has tabbed six top finishes throughout the season in freestyle events, while also performing well in the butterfly. Essig has also performed well in freestyle events with five first-place finishes and adding another top finish in the IM. The squad will look to the 200-freestyle relay as a solid starting point to the championships,  with a relay team that has competed with the best throughout the season for four top finishes.

ST. MARY'S will once again host the CAC Championships at its Aquatics Center in St. Mary's City, Md. The Seahawks finished second in the conference regular season with a 4-1 mark against CAC foes, and a 7-4 overall record. After a fourth-place finish at last year's meet, the Seahawks will look to move up the standings at this year's meet. School-record holder and senior Grant Burgess, and junior Matt Walchuck headline the list of returners for St. Mary's. 

SALISBURY is gearing up for the CAC Championships with expectations set high. The men have been led all season by the quartet of seniors Will Gough and Jake Blazer in the freestyle sprints, junior Okan Eyigor primarily in the backstroke, and newcomer freshman Peter Moyer who has already set two school records in his young career.

YORK looks to put together another strong performance as first-year head coach Greg Doyle leads the Spartans into the championships. Doyle will rely on a talented and experienced team after the Spartans finished second at last year’s championship. Senior All-American Kyle Walthall enters the championships as a three-time champion in the 100 breaststroke and a two-time 200 breaststroke conference champion. Sophomore Morgan Schreiber is the defending champion in the 100 backstroke. Newcomers Trevor Brinton, Jacob McConnell, Brandon Tarbrake and Colin Sload-Diehl provide York with talented depth in a number of events. Senior David Altobelli along with juniors Donald Timmerman and Tim McCullough give York experienced swimmers who can provide York with points throughout the championships.