University of Delaware swimmers and divers won one and lost one Saturday afternoon as the Blue Hens split a Colonial Athletic Association dual meet with longtime rival Towson at the Tigers’ Burdick Pool.
The Delaware men downed the Tigers for the first time in three years as the Blue Hens (5-4, 2-2 CAA) captured 10 events on the way to 169.5-124.5 victory over the hosts while the UD women (10-2, 4-2 CAA), despite seven wins, dropped a 165-135 decision. The loss snapped a five-meet win streak for the Blue Hen women.
The Towson women, the three-time defending CAA champions and winners of seven of the last eight league titles, improved to 8-5 (4-1 CAA) on the season while Tiger men fell to 5-7 (1-3). The UD men defeated Towson for the first time since the 2013 season.
The meet was the final regular season action for the Blue Hens. Delaware will host the CAA Diving Championships Feb. 20-21 and then travel to the CAA Swimming Championships Feb. 24-27 in Richmond, Va.
Delaware junior Alex Hillsley won three events to lead the Blue Hens as he won the 200 backstroke (1:51.38) and 200 individual medley (season-best 1:53.12) and joined Tomas Elder, Asher Kiely, and Nicholas Badsky in winning the 400 freestyle relay (3:08.94). Hillsley was also second in the 100 backstroke (51.48).
Sophomore Patrick Savidge won both the 200 freestyle (1:42.17) and 200 breaststroke (2:06.26), posting season-best times in both events, while Kiely also won the 100 backstroke (51.12). Also for the Hens, junior Cory Camp won the 1,000 freestyle with a season-best time of 9:39.22, freshman Chris Cornell touched the wall first in the 100 breaststroke with a season-best time of 58.73, junior Luke Winkler won the one-meter diving event (249.53), and senior Colin Hall was the winner in the three-meter dive (268.20).
On the women’s side, Delaware senior Morgan Whyte was in on three victories as she captured the 50 freestyle (season-best 23.31) and 100 freestyle (51.57) and swam the final leg of the winning 400 freestyle (3:31.39) with senior Dominique Montoya, sophomore Sarah Braatz, and senior Alyssa Sanders.
Also for the Hens, Montoya won the 200 freestyle (season-best 1:52.22), freshman Gabrielle Acker won the 500 freestyle (season-best 5:06.46), freshman Mina Feyrer won the 100 butterfly (58.51), and senior Kristina Congdon won the three-meter diving event (285.53).
