William & Mary Men, James Madison Women Start Out in CAA Lead

By Timothy McDonnell

James Madison benefitted from a historic individual diving performance to stake an early lead over Towson on Day 1 of the 2013 CAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championship. On the men's side, William & Mary holds a 12-point advantage over 12-time defending champion UNCW after picking up wins in the 200-yard medley and 800-yard freestyle relays.

 

JMU kicked off the championship in impressive fashion, setting a new meet record in the 200 medley relay. The team of Kacy Edsall, Shannon Dubay, Kelsey Holmgaard and Susanne Gingher posted a time of 1:40.34 in the event  to pick up 40 points. Though the Dukes now hold the new CAA Championship record, they fell just shy of their own CAA top performance record of 1:40.26 set during the 2013 season. Towson (1:40.53) finished second in the event, followed closely by UNCW (1:40.85).

 

JMU redshirt freshman Taryn McLaughlin broke a CAA Championship meet and top performance record in the three-meter dive earlier in the afternoon during prelims. Amazingly, she followed up that performance of 365.65, by scoring a 373.85 in the finals to claim the Gold medal and 20 team points. McLaughlin broke former Drexel standout Kate Hynes’ previous record of 364.15 – also set in prelims, in 2008. Drexel's Madison Kramer, a sophomore, and Towson's Natalee Szopo, also a sophomore, finished in second and third place, respectively.

 

The William & Mary men won both the 200 medley and the 800 free relay, en route to breaking their own record in the latter race. The 200 medley team didn't break any records, clocking a time of 1:27.43, but the Tribe won the event as Will Manion, Andrew Strait, Justin Barden and Billy Russell led the way. In the record-setting 800 race, Taegan Clarke, Strait, Manion and Russell blazed through the pool in 6:31.77, ousting William & Mary's previous mark of 6:32.12 set at last year's CAA Championships.

 

In the men's 200, UNCW and Drexel rounded out the top three, while the 800 was nearly the same story, with UNCW finishing second ahead of Towson.

 

Not to be outdone in the women's 800-yard freestyle relay, Towson battled and set a new CAA Championship and top performance record. The Tigers, led by Kendall Towe, Charlotte Holz, Melanie Rowland and Kaitlin Burke, brough the crowd to its feet after registering a time of 7:11.56 to etch their names in the record books.

 

The league’s teams will return to the water tomorrow for Day 2 of the championships. Scheduled events include the men's and women’s 50 and 500 freestyle events, 200 individual medley, as well as 200 and 400 medley relay. Lastly, on the board, the men’s one-meter dive will take place.

 

Day 1 Women's CAA Championship Standings                                 

 

Day 1 Men's CAA Championship Standings