Only one month after setting the conference record in the 50m freestyle, senior Cullen Jones was ready for some more magic.
The senior from Irvington, N.J. won his first-ever NCAA Championship in the 50m freestyle in dramatic fashion by defeating Stanford’s Ben Wildman-Tobriner by four hundredths of a second.
He said he was grateful for the NCAA Championship but somewhat disappointed about his performance.
“I was happy with my placement but not exactly happy with my time,” Jones said. “You win some, lose some. But, I can’t be upset with [a] win.”
Alongside Jones were Steven Cowling, Dan Velez and Kevin Velleca. All four made the trip to Atlanta for nationals.
“It’s always great to bring an actual team,” Jones said. “‘For all four to be there and to be able to compete is a great step for State.”
The team took 21st at the nationals to tie its best finish since 1979.
Freshman diver Austin Hampton, who was an alternate for the nationals after falling one place short, said he was disappointed that none of the divers made it to nationals.
He said he and his teammates still did everything they could to help the athletes that did make it.
“We were there 100 percent,” Hampton said. “We were hoping Cullen would get first, and we knew that he could. We have seen him do amazing things all year. We really wanted the other guys to do well too.”
While freshman Erika Smith was disappointed she did not make nationals, she also said the team expected something remarkable from Jones.
“Cullen is always a surprise,” she said. “We just expect him to do something that surprises us every time he goes out there.”
Smith said making nationals is a huge goal, but the only negative is that the swimmers needed to practice during spring break
“They had to stay home during spring break,” Smith said jokingly. “That is horrible. We did support them, but we mostly made fun of them for missing spring break.”
Even though the start of next season is more than six months away, Hampton said he realizes how hard he will need to work in order to reach his goal.
“I found out that I need to work,” Hampton said. “My coach and I are going to sit down and see what I need to do. After being just one place away from making it to nationals, it gives me more incentive going into next year.”
Smith added she would have to put in a lot of time to reach nationals.
“It’s a great achievement to make nationals,” Smith said. “It will take a lot of work, but I think as a team, we have a whole lot of talent coming in. So, next year looks really good.”