The St. Bonaventure men, with 232 points, hold a narrow lead, while the Massachusetts women lead with 219 points after two days of competition at the 2015 Atlantic 10 Swimming and Diving Championships.
Leading the way for the Bonnies was sophomore Michael White, who broke the A-10 Championship and Conference record en route to a first-place finish in the 200-yd individual medley (1:48.15). St. Bonaventure was also led by senior Ripley Danner, who placed third in the 200-yd IM (1:49.85), and junior Michael Pilyugin, who finished second in the 50-yd freestyle (20.11). The St. Bonaventure 200-yd freestyle relay team consisting of Pilyugin, Viacheslav Shchukin, Vatslav Lets and White finished third with a time of 1:20.87.
The Massachusetts Minutemen, co-leaders after day one, are currently second with 224.5 points. Junior Alessandro Bomprezzi set a new A-10 Championship and Conference record with a time of 4:19.75 in the 500-yd freestyle. Freshman Oliver Wyeth finished second in the event with a time of 4:25.75. Sophomore Robert Barry finished tied for second in the 1-meter dive with a score of 269.60.
Following St. Bonaventure and Massachusetts in the standings after day two of competition are George Mason (185), La Salle (181), Davidson (145), Saint Louis (121.5), Fordham (110.5) and George Washington (99.5).
The Minutewomen continue to lead on the women’s side with 219 points. Senior Molly Smyth and sophomore Meriza Werenski took home bronze in the 200-yd individual medley and 50-yd freestyle for the Minutewomen.
Defending Champion, Richmond, sits in second with 192 points. The Spider relay team consisting of Natalya Ares, Natalie Dowzicky, Annie Lane and Kelley Yang finished second in the 200-yd freestyle relay with a time of 1:33.11. Yang also recorded a third-place finish in the 50-yd freestyle (23.10).
Following Massachusetts and Richmond in pursuit of the A-10 title are Fordham and Davidson both with 170 points currently, Duquesne (163), La Salle (142), George Mason (131), Saint Louis (91), Rhode Island (75), St. Bonaventure (50) and George Washington (33).
Fordham’s Megan Polaha recorded an NCAA “B” time (2:01.31) in her gold medal winning performance in the women’s 200-yd individual medley. George Mason’s Sydney Fisher recorded an NCAA “B” time and tied the A-10 Championship record in the 50-yd freestyle prelims with a time of 22.82.
Action resumes tomorrow morning with the preliminary events beginning at 10:00 am and finals at 6:30 pm.
George Washington
The George Washington men's and women's swimming and diving teams completed day two of the four-day Atlantic 10 Championships on Thursday evening at the SPIRE Institute.
The men sit in eighth place while the women are in 11th after 14 events. Massachusetts remains atop the leaderboard for the women while St. Bonaventure holds onto first place on the men's side through day two.
Three of the six Colonials who qualified for consolation finals set personal records during the evening session. Junior Hannah Schaefer shattered her previous best of 5:13.66 in the 500-yard freestyle with a 4:48.78 performance in the morning preliminaries to earn a slot in the evening swim. Sophomore Liam Huffman bested his time of 4:29.35 in that same event, touching the wall in 4:28.68 on Thursday, good for 10th place overall. Freshman Gustav Hokfelt improved upon his 21.99 mark in the 50-free with a time of 21.03 during the preliminary session to claim a spot in the consolation final.
Juniors Oliver Keegan and Madison Reinker competed in the consolation final of the 500-free, while senior Goran Koprivnjak earned a spot in the 'B' final of the 200-yard individual medley.
Freshman Hannah Kopydlowski, sophomore Lauren Law, junior Maggie Hofstadter and senior Morgan Zebley teamed up for a 10th-place effort in the women's 200-free relay in a time of 1:35.57. For the men, Hokfelt, freshman Adam Drury, sophomore Ben Fitch and senior Adam Rabe finished seventh in the men's relay in 1:23.24.
Nine additional Colonials notched personal bests in the preliminary heats, including freshmen Clarke Indek (4:39.53), Drury (4:36.18) and Connor Hart (4:36.45) in the 500- free; Fitch (21.36) and freshmen Aneil Srivastava (21.90), Jarvus Pennington (22.29), Phoebe Turner (24.45) and Tatyana Smolyansky (25.61) in the 50-free; and junior Lauren Steagall (2:10.35) in the 200-IM.
Richmond
The foursome of Natalya Ares (Potomac, Maryland), Natalie Dowzicky (Collegeville, Pennsylvania), Annie Lane (Vinton, Virginia / William Byrd HS) and Kelley Yang (Ellicott City, Maryland) took a silver medal in the 200 Free relay from the last-seeded spot as Richmond closed the gap in day two of the Atlantic 10 Swimming and Diving Championships. The Spiders came in 38 points behind Massachusetts to start the day and not sit in second by 27 entering Friday’s third day at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
The foursome swam in the first heat and posted a time, 1:33.11 that only Davidson could catch in the final heat of the event, which capped off the night for the women.
“Our freshmen were good today,” said head coach Matt Barany. “We still have a few who haven’t swum an event yet, but we need more highlights. Tomorrow, we have more swims, but it will really be up to us to make the most out of those swims.“
The scoring began when Lane finished fifth by swimming her career-fastest time in the 500 Free (4:52.89) in the first final of the evening session. Only four Richmond swimmers have ever posted a faster time in the event. Junior Emma Terwilliger (Niskayna, New York) was eighth swimming in the finals for double-digit points for UR.
Freshman Hannah Verrette (Marblehead, Massachusetts) was the top finisher in the consolation final in the 200 IM, improving her preliminary time by nearly a second to help the team score.
Yang grabbed the team’s first individual medal with a 23.10 time in the 50 Free final for third place and a bronze. It was a career-best time for her by almost two-tenths of a second, and the fourth-fastest 50 Free time in program history.
