TOWSON, MD. –Towson University men's swimming and diving team is back in action against conference opponent Drexel on Saturday, Jan. 12 inside Burdick Hall. The meet will also serve as the Special Olympics meet. All action will begin at 10 am.

"We absolutely love working with Special Olympics," said head coach Jake Shrum. "As the culmination of our clinics, having them in attendance and racing at our meet is an incredibly joyful experience!"

The Tigers will also highlight the 2018-19 senior class during the last home meet. They include Zach Bishop, Evan Brophy, Ben Johnston, Richard Keller, Aaron Magazine, Jack Saunderson, Andrew Snyder, and Spencer Franklin.

For seniors like Snyder the burning drive to compete and be with his teammates means a lot this year. Expectations were set high for the seniors and he's just hoping they can continue to live up to it.

"We have a really strong team this year with lots of positive energy on the pool deck", said Snyder. "This year we have had a burning drive to win so I expect everyone to step up against Drexel and pull out a win. It will be close, but I think we can definitely win."

The exercise science major has seen a lot of fast times this season and is just happy to see his teammates are doing the same. Looking ahead, the goal is to do well at Colonial Athletic Conference (CAA) Championships so having the same momentum going forward is huge.

"So far this season I have been performing very well, said Snyder. "I've been swimming faster this season than last season and most of the team is doing the same.

"We have been racing very well and it has given us a lot of momentum moving into our championship season"

Huge accomplishment and personal-best is what Snyder has set out to do. "Winning CAAs would be great," said Snyder.

Tigers' Last Time Out
The Tigers captured their third consecutive win at the Bucknell Invitational with a score of 1384.5. Led by Jack Saunderson, the Tigers posted nine event wins to help with the success of the day. Saunderson won three events and set a new pool record in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 46.55. The 200-yard freestyle relay team with Matt Essing, Saunderson, Ryan Baldino and Hunter Wright came in first with a time of 1:21.91. Evan Brophy captured first in the 500-yard freestyle (4:29.67).
Saunderson was also victorious in the 200-yard individual medley (1:49.32) and the 200-yard butterfly (1:44.64).
 
Last Time against Drexel
The Tigers were in a tri-meet with Drexel that also included Seton Hall. Towson totaled 24 top-five finishes and event wins in the 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard individual medley. Saunderson won the 100 fly in a time of 48.12 seconds and the 200 IM with a time of 1:52.45. He also finished second in the 200 free and swam the third leg of the yard medley relay in which Towson finished second in 1:34.39.
Bishop had two runner-up finishes in the 100 and 200-yard backstroke.  
 
Tigers in the Community

• Towson is the Division I national champion of the NCAA Team Works Helper Helper Competition for the Fall 2018 semester. Towson completed the most community service hours among all schools in the competition, including 75 different Division I departments and approximately 300 total programs across the country.
• Towson's men and women's swimming and diving team hosted their second clinic with the Special Olympics team on Nov. 10 at Burdick Pool.