TOWSON, Md. - As the last dual meet of the season approaches the Towson University men's swimming and diving team travels to the University of Loyola (Maryland) for a mid-week meet on Wednesday, Jan. 23 at 5 p.m.

The meet will take place inside Mangione Pool at the Fitness & Aquatics Center.

For each Tiger, like Ben Johnston, they have their own approach to each meet and are very technical on how they prepare for the meet.

"Loyola seems to be a stronger team this year than in past years," said Johnston. "So the lineups for the meet will have to be very well thought out."

The finance major is focusing on enjoying every moment with his teammates.

"As I've gotten older, pre-game rituals have become less and less important," said Johnston. "So the biggest thing I focus on is trying to have fun with my teammates, and I think that is when most people see their best performances."

As the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship approaches these meets are all leading up to that big day.

"Loyola is our last dual meet of the season, so past that the team is very much looking forward to resting our bodies for CAA Championships at the end of February."

Tigers Last Time Out
The Tigers took home 12 first-place victories over Delaware Saturday afternoon to defeat the Blue Hens 188-92. Zach Bishop, Ben Johnston, Jack Saunderson and Evan Brophy won the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:35.06. Evan Lynch finished in second-place in the 1000-yard freestyle (9:51.20).
 
Devin Gaul took home first in both the 1-meter (189.60) and 3-meter (214.00) diving competitions.
 
Three Tigers finished in the top five in the 200-yard backstroke. Robinson was second (1:53.74), Nick McClure in third (1:57.19) and Lynch in fourth (1:57.71). Saunderson won both the 100-yard backstroke (50.01) and the 100-yard butterfly (47.35).
 
Scouting the Greyhounds
Loyola competed against La Salle on Monday afternoon and fell to the explorers 213-80. The Greyhounds took three of the top four spots in the 100 backstroke with Conor Rutigliano finishing second (52.58), Mark Boran in third (53.26) and Jonathan Brooks in fourth (54.14).
 
In the 200 backstroke, Venter won with a time of 1:52.11 while Boran was second (1:54.50) and Brooks was third (1:58.92).
 
Freshman Nick Pacitti was runner-up in the 1000 free (9:56.69). He also finished fourth in the 500 free (4:55.20).
 
The Coverage
Towson fans can follow the action at: http://sidearmstats.com/loyolamd/swim/index.htm
 
Let's Make a Splash

• Gaul was named CAA Men's Diver of the after finishing in first-place in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competitions.

 
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.
• The men's and women's swimming and diving team hosted its second clinic with the Special Olympics team on Nov. 10 at Burdick Pool.