Atlanta, Ga., Feb. 12, 2015 – The Washington University in St. Louis men's 200-freestyle relay set a conference and school record to win the University Athletic Association (UAA) title and highlight a big second day for the Bears at the UAA Swimming & Diving Championships Thursday at Emory University.
After six events, the Washington U. women sit in second in the team standings with 425 points. Host Emory is in first with 699, while the University of Chicago is third with 367. Emory leads a tight men's team race with 477.5 points, while Chicago is second with 458 and Washington U. is third with 455.
The men's 200-free relay team of senior Matt Nutter, junior Reed Dalton, freshman Ross Brown and sophomore Justin Morrell clocked a B-cut time of 1:21.69 to win the UAA title. The time broke the previous UAA record of 1:21.91 set by Emory at last year's meet. It also bettered the nine-year-old school record of 1:22.04.
The women's 200-free relay team of junior Katie Anderson, sophomore Claire Savage, sophomore MariMac Collins and senior Sara Taege also set a school record. They finished second in a B-cut time of 1:34.86, which bettered the previous record of 1:35.08 set in 2013. The Washington U. women also had B-cuts on both of their 200-free relays in the prelims.
The men's 400-medley relay added a third school record as the team of Nutter, sophomore Michael Lagieski, Dalton and Morrell finished as the runner-up with a B-cut time of 3:17.28. The time improved on their own school record set last year by nearly 0.7 of a second. Lagieski also broke his own school record in the 200 individual medley prelims with a B-cut time of 1:51.41, which was more than a second faster than his record from 2014. He finished second in the finals with another B-cut of 1:51.78, while sophomore Matt Liu placed ninth with a B-cut and season-best time of 1:52.90.
Freshman Niamh O'Grady accounted for the fifth all-UAA finish for the Bears on the day, placing second in the women's 200 IM with a season-best and B-cut time of 2:05.63. Junior Kristalyn McAfee also clocked a B-cut and season-best time in the event, placing 11th in 2:07.34.
The Washington U. men added three B-cuts in sweeping fourth- through sixth-place in the 500 free. Sophomore Andrew Ellison was fourth with a season-best time of 4:31.79, while senior Zane Turpin followed in fifth in 4:35.22 and freshman Landon Bennett took sixth in a season-best 4:35.61. Morrell also just missed all-UAA honors in the 50 free, placing fourth with a season-best and B-cut time of 20.73.
The women's 400-medley relay team of Anderson, junior Sophie Gan, O'Grady and McAfee clocked a season-best and B-cut time of 3:50.84 to place fifth overall. Taege added a B-cut and season-best time of 5:00.14 in the 500 free prelims, before finishing sixth in the final with another B-cut of 5:00.25. Sophomore Emily Ramos posted a season-best score of 387.85 in the women's three-meter diving to advance to the finals, where she finished fifth with a score of 373.05.
The UAA Championships continue with day three of four Friday. Events scheduled for Friday's competition include the 200-medley relay, 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 free, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 800-free relay, and men's three-meter diving. Prelims are set to begin at 10 a.m. (ET), with finals starting at 5:30 p.m. (ET).
