St. Louis, Mo., Nov. 8, 2014 – The Washington University in St. Louis men's and women's swimming & diving teams combined to win 19 events on their way to sweeping home dual meets against the University of Chicago Saturday afternoon. The Washington U. women posted a 179-120 victory, while the Washington U. men edged Chicago 154-145.
Freshmen Niamh O'Grady and Nicole Zanolli each won two events for the Washington U. women. O'Grady clocked a season-best time of 58.03 to win the 100 butterfly, and led a first- through third-place sweep for the Bears in the 100 freestyle. She won the event with a time of 53.73, while sophomore MariMac Collins (54.35) and freshman Fiona Hon (54.74) finished second and third, respectively. Zanolli just missed a B-cut in the 400 IM, winning in a season-best time of 4:36.92. She added a first-place finish in the 1,000 free in 10:35.42.
Sophomore Justin Morrell won a pair of individual events for the Washington U. men, winning the 50 free in 21.55 and the 100 free in a season-best time of 46.64. Freshman Ross Brown placed second in the 100 free with a season-best time of 47.76. Morrell also teamed with junior Reed Dalton, Brown and junior Kaisen Yao to win the 200-free relay in a season-best time of 1:24.20, while the 200-medley relay team of Yao, sophomore Michael Lagieski, Dalton and Morrell clocked a winning time of 1:33.90.
Dalton added a first-place finish for the Washington U. men in the 100 butterfly with a time of 50.12, and Lagieski won the 100 breaststroke in 57.93. Sophomore Reese Frerichs won the 200 breaststroke in a season-best time of 2:08.34, while Lagieski (2:08.64) and sophomore Matt Liu (2:09.73) also posted season-bests to finish third and fourth, respectively. Sophomore Andrew Ellison and freshman Wending Zhu finished first and second in the 500 free with times of 4:45.13 and 4:50.99, respectively. Senior Zane Turpin (9:46.48) and Zhu (10:03.01) both posted season-best times to finish first and second, respectively, in the 1,000 free.
Hon led a 1-2-3 sweep for the Washington U. women in the 50 free. She clocked a season-best time of 24.76 to finish first, while Collins (25.19) and sophomore Claire Savage (25.30) finished second and third, respectively. Collins also won an individual event for the Bears, taking first in the 200 free with a season-best time of 1:55.97. Junior Grace Counts also clocked a season-best time to finish second in 1:57.33. Junior Kristalyn McAfee helped the Washington U. women sweep the freestyle events, winning the 500 free in a season-best time of 5:11.87, while Counts finished third in a season-best 5:16.85.
Sophomore Emily Ramos won the women's three-meter diving for Washington U. with a score of 218.10. Junior Amanda Stadermann accounted for Washington U.'s other individual event victory, finishing first in the 200 butterfly with a season-best time of 2:09.00. The Bears finished the meet with a win in the 200-free relay. The team of Hon, Savage, sophomore Lauren Carlos and Collins clocked a winning time of 1:38.86.
The men's and women's swimming & diving teams return to action Nov. 22 at the Illinois Wesleyan Invitational in Bloomington, Ill.
