The Washington University in St. Louis men's and women's swimming & diving teams combined to win 17 events as both teams finished first at the Illinois Wesleyan University Invitational Saturday.
The Washington U. men scored 302 points to win the team title by 135 points over host Illinois Wesleyan. On the women's side, Washington U. scored 276 points to finish first ahead of runner-up Augustana College who had 201.
Sophomore Justin Morrell was part of four event victories for the Washington U. men. He won the 100 backstroke in a season-best time of 52.51, and added a first-place finish in the 200 freestyle in a season-best 1:44.65. Freshman Wending Zhu took second in the event in 1:48.61. Morrell also teamed with sophomore Reese Frerichs, freshman Ross Brown and senior Will Miller to win the 200-medley relay in 1:38.18. He anchored the 200-free relay to a winning time of 1:27.52, joining junior Kaisen Yao, senior Matt Nutter and Frerichs for that win.
Junior Kristalyn McAfee earned a pair of individual event wins for the Washington U. women. She took first in the 100 free in 54.23, and added a first-place finish in the 200 free in 1:57.10. Freshman Nicole Zanolli finished second in the 200 free in 1:57.93. Freshman Niamh O'Grady won the 100 backstroke in 59.89, and added two wins on relays for the Bears. She teamed with junior Katie Anderson, freshman Devon Litteral and senior Sara Taege to win the 200-medley relay in 1:52.36, and joined Taege, Anderson and sophomore MariMac Collins to win the 200-free relay in 1:40.24.
Junior Amanda Stadermann and senior Katrina Leyden claimed the first two spots in the 200 individual medley for the Washington U. women. Stadermann clocked a season-best time of 2:15.67 to win the race, while Leyden finished second in 2:16.12. Sophomore Lauren Carlos and freshman Fiona Hon added a 1-2 finish for the Bears in the 100 butterfly with times of 1:00.26 and 1:01.83, respectively. Junior Sophie Gan won the 100 breaststroke in her first meet of the season with a time of 1:09.57. Sophomore Emily Ramos was the final event-winner for the WUSTL women, taking first in the three-meter diving with a score of 198.65, while senior Tina Hinman was second with 188.85.
The Washington U. men took the top two places in three other events to lead them to the team title. Sophomores Michael Lagieski and Jacob Nason finished first and second in the 200 IM in 2:01.30 and 2:02.94, respectively. Nason added a first-place finish in the 500 free in 4:56.32, while freshman Jaron Cook was second in 4:59.48. Junior RJ Petrella won the 100 free in 49.40, and freshman TJ Dawson placed second in 50.11. Frerichs gave Washington U. its eighth event victory on the men's side, taking first in the 100 breaststroke in 59.77.
The men's and women's swimming & diving teams return to action at the Wheaton Invitational Friday-Saturday, Dec. 5-6, in Wheaton, Ill.
