Washington U./St. Louis
The Washington University in St. Louis men's and women's swimming teams combined to post 23 B-cuts and set three school records to take the lead in the team standings on the first day of the Wheaton Invitational Friday.
The Washington University women scored 582 points on the first day to sit in first place in the team standings. Host Wheaton College (Ill.) is second with 365, while the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is third with 348. After one day of competition on the men's side, Washington U. leads with 555 points. University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is second with 386, followed by UW-Whitewater in third with 349.
The Bears won all six relays contested during Friday's events, setting three meet records in the process. The men's 400-medley relay team of sophomore Justin Morrell, sophomore Reese Frerichs, junior Reed Dalton and freshman Ross Brown set a meet record with a B-cut time of 3:19.58. Morrell's leadoff leg of 50.21 was also a B-cut in the 100 backstroke. Senior Matt Nutter, sophomore Matt Liu, sophomore Jacob Nason and freshman TJ Dawson teamed up to finish second in the event in 3:27.04.
The women's 400-medley relay team also set a meet record. Junior Katie Anderson, junior Sophie Gan, freshman Niamh O'Grady and junior Kristalyn McAfee finished first in a B-cut time of 3:51.17. The 800-freestyle relay team of freshman Nicole Zanolli, sophomore MariMac Collins, junior Grace Counts and McAfee also set a meet record, winning in a B-cut time of 7:33.68. Collins, McAfee, O'Grady and sophomore Claire Savage also posted a B-cut in winning the 200-free relay in 1:35.85.
The men's 200-free relay team of junior Kaisen Yao, Dalton, Brown and Morrell clocked a B-cut time of 1:23.10 to win the event. Nutter, senior Zane Turpin, sophomore Andrew Ellison and junior RJ Petrella teamed up to win the 800-free relay in 6:54.84. Yao, sophomore Michael Lagieski, Dalton and Morrell added a B-cut and set the school record in a 200-medley relay time trial with a time of 1:30.40.
In the men's 100 free Morrell set a school and meet record with his winning B-cut time of 44.17. Brown was third in 46.11 and Dawson finished fifth in 47.31. McAfee led a first- through fifth-place sweep for the Washington U. women in the 100 free, winning with a B-cut time of 52.06. O'Grady was second in 52.17, while Collins (52.36), Counts (52.89) and Savage (52.93) finished third through fifth, respectively.
Junior Amanda Stadermann also set a school record in the women's 200 butterfly prelims with a B-cut time of 2:03.87. She finished second in the final in 2:05.48, and junior Toireasa Rafferty-Millett was third in a B-cut time of 2:07.56. In the men's 200 butterfly, Dalton set a meet record with his B-cut time of 1:50.28 in the prelims. Nason won the event with a B-cut time of 1:53.76 after also posting a B-cut (1:53.54) in the prelims.
Turpin and Ellison took the top-two places in the men's 500 free with B-cut times of 4:35.05 and 4:36.45, respectively. In the men's 100 breaststroke, Lagieski and Frerichs both posted B-cuts in the prelims with times of 56.28 and 56.38, respectively. Frerichs won the event with another B-cut of 56.49 in the finals. Petrella added a B-cut in the 200 individual medley, winning the event in 1:53.10. Liu was second in 1:55.03. In the 200 backstroke, Nutter finished second in a B-cut of 1:53.06 and Petrella was third in 1:53.64.
Anderson won the women's 200 backstroke in a B-cut time of 2:03.92. Zanolli added a first-place finish and a B-cut time of 5:02.14 in the 500 free, while Gan also posted a B-cut time (1:05.40) in finishing third in the 100 breaststroke. O'Grady accounted for Washington U.'s final B-cut of the day, clocking a time of 1:52.06 in a time trial of the 200 free.
The Washington U. divers also competed Friday at the Pioneer Classic hosted by Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa. Sophomore Emily Ramos won the women's three-meter diving with a season-best score of 365.80, while senior Tina Hinman was second with a season-best 332.55. Freshman Laura Barber finished fourth with a season-best score of 324.15. In the men's three-meter diving, freshmen Ryan Nathenson (283.40) and Fernando Rojo (182.30) also posted season-bests to finish fourth and seventh, respectively.
Day two of the Wheaton Invitational is set to begin with prelims at 10 a.m. Saturday. Finals are scheduled to start at 5 p.m. The divers will compete in the one-meter event at the Pioneer Classic Saturday.
