Carbondale, Ill., Jan. 17, 2015 – The Washington University in St. Louis women's swimming & diving team split its double-dual against a pair of NCAA Division I teams, defeating the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and falling to Southern Illinois University, while the Washington U. men dropped its dual at Southern Illinois Saturday.
The Washington U. women earned a 162.5-122.5 win over Arkansas-Little Rock, but dropped its dual against host Southern Illinois 222-76. In the men's dual, Southern Illinois scored 205 points to top the Washington U. men who scored 93.
Sophomore Michael Lagieski was the lone event-winner of the day for Washington U. He clocked a B-cut time of 57.65 seconds to place first in the 100 breaststroke. Sophomores Reese Frerichs (1:00.07) and Matt Liu (1:00.56) finished third and fourth, respectively, in the event. Lagieski and Liu also finished second and third in the 200 breaststroke in 2:11.04 and 2:12.72, respectively.
Sophomore Justin Morrell was part of four runner-up finishes on the day, including three individual events. He was second in the 50 freestyle (21.58), 100 free (47.63) and 200 free (1:46.43). Freshman Ross Brown (48.00) was third in the 100 free, while junior RJ Petrella (1:46.78) finished one spot behind Morrell in the 200 free. Morrell also teamed with Lagieski and juniors Kaisen Yao and Reed Dalton to take second in the 200-medley relay in 1:33.73.
Junior Sophie Gan and freshman Niamh O'Grady each had a pair of runner-up finishes for the Washington U. women. Gan was second in both the 100 breaststroke (1:07.79) and 200 breaststroke (2:25.39). O'Grady clocked a season-best time of 2:09.15 to finish second in the 200 backstroke, and was also second in the 100 butterfly in 59.34.
Junior Kristalyn McAfee led a second- through fourth-place finish for the Washington U. women in the 200 free. McAfee took second in 1:56.55, while sophomore MariMac Collins was third in 1:57.57 and O'Grady took fourth in 1:57.74. McAfee also added a third-place finish in the 400 individual medley (4:46.46) and a fourth-place showing in the 100 free (54.42).
The Washington U. men also finished second in the 200-free relay, as senior Matt Nutter, Dalton, Brown and Yao teamed up to clock a time of 1:27.78. Petrella (1:58.28) and Nutter (2:02.03) placed second and third, respectively, in the 200 backstroke, while Dalton was second in the 100 butterfly in 50.48. Sophomore Andrew Ellison added two third-place finishes for the Bears, taking third in the 500 free (4:50.02) and the 1,000 free (10:04.38).
The Washington University men's and women's swimming & diving teams return to action in a dual against NCAA Division II Lindenwood University. The meet is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23, at Pattonville High School in Maryland Heights, Mo.
