The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams completed action at the Cavalier Diving Invitational and the first day of the Virginia Tech Invitational Saturday (Feb. 7).
Virginia Tech Invitational
In the women’s 200 free, freshman Jennnifer Marrkand (Westford, Mass.) placed first in 1:48.57. Sophomore Laura Simon (Simmern, Germany) captured the women’s 200 breast in 2:11.36, while junior Yannick Kaeser (Mumpf, Switzerland) won the men’s 200 breast in 1:56.66.
Junior Courtney Bartholomew (Holland, Michigan) won the women’s 100 back in 51.05, while sophomore Leah Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa.) touched first in the women’s 500 free in 4:36.78. Freshman Brendan Casey (Santa Monica, Calif.) won the men’s 500 free in 4:25.12.
In the women’s 200 IM, senior Brodde Lamb (Charlottesville, Va.) picked up the first win of her UVa career in 2:04.12. Sophomore Ellen Thomas (Guildford, United Kingdom) touched first in the women’s 50 free in 22.75.
The Cavalier swimmers complete action at the Virginia Tech Invitational Sunday (Feb. 8) with prelims at 10 a.m. and finals at 4 p.m.
Cavalier Diving Invitational
Junior Katie Warburg (Wilton, Conn.) broke the school record in the women’s 3-meter event with a score of 328.57. Warburg also qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships on 1-meter with a score of 284.18. Junior Becca Corbett (Louisville, Ky.) was the top finisher for UVa with a score of 289.88. In the women’s platform, freshman Emily Langworthy (Gaithersburg, MD.) qualified for Zones with a score of 235.65.
In men’s 3-meter, freshman Jake Bowtell (Darien, Conn.) qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Championships with a score of 331.65, while junior Jordan Sacks (Wilmette, Ill.) punched his ticket in men’s platform with a mark of 304.20.
Virginia Tech
The Virginia Tech men’s and women’s swimming teams concluded the first day of competition at the Virginia Tech Invitational Saturday night at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center. Two Tech freshmen earned NCAA B-cut times, and multiple swimmers bro! ke personal records in the evening finals to highlight the night.
“I was really excited about the way our non-conference team stepped up today,” head coach Ned Skinner said. “We had a couple of guys - Peter Conzola and Eric Delmonte - make NCAA B-cuts, which bodes really well for our future. Grayson Smith also did well, and seniors Jayme Katis and Emily Ryczek led us in the pool on the women’s side.”
The meet began Saturday morning with preliminary competition before concluding in the evening with the finals. There was no team scoring for the event and no diving competition.
Women’s Meet
To start off the finals competition, Ryczek took second in the 200 free (1:49.63) ahead of Katis, who took sixth (1:50.65), before M.J. Ulrich set a new personal best and grabbed fourth in the 200 breast (2:18.16).
Katie Rogers swam in the 500 free B final a few races later, winning the B final and grabbing ninth place (4:58.62).
In the 200 IM, Tech finished in the second and third spots. Kelly Henry took second with a personal-record time of 2:04.70, and Katis took third (2:04.83).
Men’s Meet
Tech grabbed two one-two finishes in the early portion of the finals. In the 200 breast, Delmonte hit the wall in an NCAA B-cut time of 1:58.72 for a new personal best to take second place, and Brandon Tutty clocked in at 2:00.39 for third, also setting a new personal best.
In the next race - the 100 back - Conzola scored an NCAA B-cut time of 47.96 in his second-place finish, and Smith grabbed third with a personal-record time of 48.57.
Christopher Wang earned himself a sixth-place finish in the 500 free after clocking in at 4:33.65.
Smith added to his third-place finish by winning the 200 IM with an NCAA B-cut time of 1:48.99 ahead of teammate Delmonte, who took third with another personal-record time of 1:53.55.
Action continues tomorrow in the final day of the Virginia Tech Invitational. Preliminary races will begin at 10 a.m. and finals will start at 4 p.m.
Penn State
Despite sending just a partial squad, the Penn State women’s swimmers were represented in the finals of all six events contested on the first day of competition Saturday at the Virginia Tech Invitational in the Christiansburg Aquatic Center.
Emily Harris (Downington, Pa.) posted a pair of top six finishes to lead the Nittany Lion swimmers. In the 200 individual medley, she placed fifth in 2:08.15, followed by teammate Hayli Randolph in sixth (2:09.47), and in the 200 breaststroke, Harris placed sixth in 2:21.61.
Kerry Treusdell (Churchville, Md.) led a trio of Lions in the 500 free, placing seventh in 4:57.72. Tara Rogers (Lansdale, Pa.) was 10th in 5:05.27, while Bridget Moody (Port Washington, N.Y.) was 12th in 5:07.78.
Three also advanced to the finals in the 200 freestyle, led by Rogers who placed ninth in 1:51.18. Arielle Krigger (Allison Park, Pa.) placed 14th in 1:55.64, while Moody tied for 15th in 1:55.77.
Krigger also placed 10th in the 50 free in 24.21, while Hannah Matheson (Skillman, N.J.) was ninth in the 100 backstroke in 57.80 seconds.
Led by Shane Ryan’s two first place performances, the Penn State men’s swimming and diving team wrapped up the first day of competition at the Virginia Tech Invitational on a high note.
Ryan a junior from Havertown, Pa., was fastest in the 100 back (46.28) and the 50 free (20.37), while sophomore Matt Stasiunas (Avondale, Pa.) also chipped in with a first place performance of his own, finishing in 1:39.78 during the 200 freestyle.
Placing just outside of medal contention in the 200 free was freshman Ryan O’Neill (Howell, N.J.) who came in fourth with a time of 1:41.42. Also placing a respectable fourth was fellow freshman David Gross (Perryville, Md.) who finished the 200 IM in 1:55.16.
There was no team score for this event which is being held at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center in Christiansburg, Va., just about eight miles from Blacksburg.
Arkansas
Three Razorback swimmers clocked personal best times as Arkansas closed the first day at the Virginia Tech Invitational in the Christiansburg Aquatic Center on Saturday evening.
Freshman Anya Quedens was the first to collect a personal best, logging a time of 1:55.31 in the 200 free prelims. Quedens and fellow Razorback teammate Megan Strickland earned spots in the 200 free finals where Strickland took 12th and Quedens took 15th in the B flight.
Junior Erica McGovern earned a spot in the 200 breast finals where she clocked a time of 2:24.19, good for eighth place. Sophomore Katie Kearbey took 11th in the B final, registering a time of 2:25.29.
Junior Erin Beu then registered an 11th place finish in the 100 back finals for a career-best time of 1:01.98. Sophomore Sarah Easterling snagged sixth place in the A final of the 100 back (56.61) while freshman Courtney Nall touched the wall first in the B final for ninth place (58.86).
In the 500 free, junior Jordan Kimmey recorded a personal best with a time of 5:05.28, while Easterling grabbed the highest place of the evening with the No. 4 spot in the 200 IM finals (2:07.41).
Strickland and Quedens then closed the first day for the Razorbacks in the 50 free B final where the duo snagged 12th (24.36) and 14th (24.45), respectively.
