St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 10, 2015 – The Washington University in St. Louis men's and women's swimming & diving teams combined to win 30 out of 34 events contested at the Washington University Invitational to win both team titles at the meet Saturday afternoon.
The Washington U. men scored 1,235.5 points to win by 815 points over runner-up Lindenwood University-Belleville (420.5). The Washington U. women also won by nearly 800 points, scoring 1,124 points for first, while Lindenwood-Belleville was second with 336.
Five individuals won multiple events for the Washington U. men, including sophomore Justin Morrell who was part of four first-place finishes. He won the 100 butterfly (51.38), 100 backstroke (54.30) and 200 backstroke (1:56.94). Morrell also teamed with junior Kaisen Yao and sophomores Reese Frerichs and Matt Liu to win the 200-medley relay in 1:36.83. Frerichs added a first-place finish in the 200 breaststroke in 2:12.17.
Junior RJ Petrella won both the 200 individual medley (1:58.12) and the 400 IM (4:13.35), while/\ freshman Ryan Nathenson finished first in both the one-meter (204.50) and three-meter (180.80) diving events. Sophomore Andrew Ellison was the fifth multiple-event winner for the Bears. He took first in the 1,650 freestyle (16:45.83) and joined junior Eric Eig and freshmen TJ Dawson and Ross Brown to win the 200-free relay in 1:31.31. The Washington U. men added first-place finishes by sophomore Michael Lagieski (100 breaststroke, 58.04), junior Reed Dalton (200 butterfly, 2:03.21) and senior Matt Nutter (50 free, 22.08).
Freshman Nicole Zanolli and juniors Grace Counts and Sophie Gan were each part of three first-place finishes for the Washington U. women. Zanolli won the 1,650 free (18:05.02) and 400 IM (4:47.16), then teamed with sophomore Erin Polries, Counts and senior Sara Taege to win the 200-free relay in 1:44.53. Counts added individual event victories in the 100 free (54.98) and 200 free (1:58.82). Gan won both the 100 (1:07.91) and 200 breaststrokes (2:24.60), and joined junior Kristalyn McAfee and sophomores Lauren Carlos and MariMac Collins to win the 200-medley relay (1:53.99).
Collins added a first-place finish in the 500 free (5:14.25). Sophomore Emily Ramos won both the one-meter (228.75) and three-meter diving (2:21.70), freshman Fiona Hon won the 50 free (24.78) and the 100 butterfly (1:00.90), and freshman Niamh O'Grady won the 200 IM (2:10.14) and the 200 backstroke (2:11.28). Junior Amanda Stadermann was the final event-winner for the Washington U. women, taking first in the 200 butterfly in 2:10.52.
The Washington University women's swimming & diving team returns to action by hosting Illinois State University in a dual at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16. Both the men's and women's teams will then travel to Carbondale, Ill., Saturday, Jan. 17, to take on Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock at 1 p.m.
