Atlanta, Ga., Feb. 13, 2015 – The Washington University in St. Louis men's and women's swimming & diving teams added two more conference titles, six all-UAA finishes and three school records on day three of the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships Friday at Emory University.
Entering the final day of competition, the Washington U. women sit in second in the team standings with 876 points. Emory is first with 1,385 points, while the University of Chicago is third behind Washington U. with 806. In the men's team standings, Emory and Chicago are tied for first with 1,054 points each. New York University is in third with 955, while Washington U. is fourth with 901.
Junior Reed Dalton was part of both UAA titles won by the Bears Friday. He claimed the first individual conference title of his career by clocking a UAA-record and B-cut time of 48.12 in the men's 100 butterfly. Dalton was more than a half-second ahead of the runner-up in the event, and bettered the previous conference record of 49.05 set by Matthew Veldman of Chicago last year.
The men's 200-medley relay team of sophomore Justin Morrell, sophomore Michael Lagieski, Dalton and senior Matt Nutter also won a UAA title during Friday's action. They clocked a B-cut time of 1:30.19 to win by .25 of a second over Chicago. The time also broke the previous school record of 1:30.40 set earlier this season.
The Washington U. women also broke the school record in the 200-medley relay. The team of juniors Katie Anderson and Sophie Gan and sophomores Lauren Carlos and MariMac Collins clocked a B-cut and school-record time of 1:45.53 in the prelims, before finishing fifth in a B-cut time of 1:45.85 in the finals.
Freshman Niamh O'Grady accounted for the third school record of the day for the Bears. She broke Tina Deneweth's nine-year-old school record in the 100 butterfly with a Bp-cut time of 56.96 in the prelims. Carlos also had a B-cut and season-best time of 57.11 in the prelims. O'Grady finished eighth (57.04), while Carlos was 11th (57.20) in the event finals.
Lagieski added a runner-up finish in the men's 100 breaststroke, swimming to a season-best and B-cut time of 55.23. Sophomore Reese Frerichs placed fifth with a B-cut time of 56.80. Morrell also earned all-UAA honors by finishing third in the 100 backstroke with a B-cut time of 50.80. Sophomore Matt Liu (seventh) and senior Zane Turpin (eighth) each posted B-cut times in the 400 individual medley prelims.
Senior Sara Taege, Collins, sophomore Erin Polries and junior Kristalyn McAfee teamed up to finish second in the women's 800-free relay with a B-cut time of 7:31.88. In addition, Taege's leadoff leg of 1:52.23 was a B-cut in the 200 free. McAfee added another all-UAA finish for the Washington U. women on the day, placing third in the 200 free with a B-cut time of 1:51.30. Collins and junior Grace Counts also posted B-cut times in the 200 free in finishing ninth and 11th, respectively. Taege also finished fourth in the 400 IM with a season-best and B-cut time of 4:27.64. Freshman Nicole Zanolli (10th) and junior Toireasa Rafferty-Millett (13th) each posted B-cuts in the 400 IM as well.
The final day of the 2015 UAA Swimming & Diving Championships are set for Saturday, Feb. 14. Seven events are scheduled for Saturday's competition – 200 backstroke, 100 free, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, 1,650 free, 400-free relay and women's one-meter diving. Prelims are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. (ET), with finals starting at 5:30 p.m. (ET).
