Murtha Wins 1-Meter, 800 Free Relay Record Falls on Day One

East Meadow, N.Y. – The Seton Hall men's swimming and diving team had a strong opening night to the 2023 BIG EAST Swimming & Diving Championships. Quinn Murtha (Cumming, Ga.) took the top spot in the men's 1-meter dive, while both the 800 Free Relay team broke the school record en route to a second place finish.

Murtha posted a score of 569.75 to claim the top spot in the event, becoming the first Seton Hall male diver to win a BIG EAST title since current diving coach Ben Mitchell did so back in 2015. The Pirates were able to claim the top two spots in the event, as Trevor Post (Bay City,Mich.) accumulated a score of 546.05 to earn the silver medal.

In the first relay of the night, the 800 Free Relay team went neck-and-neck with Xavier down the stretch. The Pirates finished just .08 seconds off first place, as Kevin Cary (West Chester, Pa.), Gideon Langenbusch (Oberhausen, Germany), Justin Oosterwyk (Pequannock, N.J.) and Ben LaClair (Belchertown, Mass.) touched the wall in a program-record time of 6:32.13.

The men would also claim second place in the 200 Medley Relay to cap off the night. Ross Pantano (Bennington, Neb.), Ben Endersby (Caldwell, N.J.), Michael Klimaszewski (London, England) and Thomas Minar (Oxford, Conn.) combined to touch the wall in 1:28.10.

Seton Hall currently finds itself in second place after night one with 118 total points, trailing first-place Georgetown who currently owns 137 points.

Georgetown: 137
Seton Hall: 118
Villanova: 83
Xavier: 72
Providence: 63

The Pirates are back it for day two of the BIG EAST Championships on Thursday. Tomorrow's schedule of events includes the 500 Free, 200 IM, 50 Free, women's 3-meter dive and the 200 Free Relay. The championships are being streamed live on the BIG EAST Digital Network on FloSwimming.