Webster, N.Y., Feb. 18, 2016 – The Washington University in St. Louis men's and women's swimming & diving teams combined to set four school records and win three conference titles on the second day of the University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships hosted by the University of Rochester Thursday at the Webster Aquatic Center.
After six events, the WashU men sit in second place in the team standings with 475.5 points. Emory University is first with 500 points, while the University of Chicago is third with 392. On the women's side, WashU sits in third with 428 points. Emory is also atop the women's team standings with 665.5 points, while Chicago is second with 443.
Senior Luke Dobben was the first event champion of the meet for WashU. He swam a B-cut and season-best time of 4:30.36 to win the men's 500 freestyle. It was Dobben's fourth conference title in the event. Junior Andrew Ellison finished seventh in a B-cut and season-best time of 4:33.08.
Sophomore Nicole Zanolli was part of all three school-record performances for the WashU women. She finished as the UAA runner-up in the 500 free in a B-cut time of 4:53.27. That time bettered the previous school record of 4:54.32 set in 2014 by Sara Taege. Zanolli then led off the women's 400-medley relay that took more than two seconds off the previous school record. Zanolli, senior Sophie Gan, sophomore Niamh O'Grady and freshman Lauren Sapp finished second in a B-cut time of 3:46.88, which bettered the previous WashU record of 3:49.15 set in 2014. Zanolli clocked a B-cut time of 55.62 on her lead leg of the relay to also break WashU's 100 backstroke record of 56.09 set by Chi Pham in 2011.
The men's 400-medley relay finished the day with a UAA title, missing the conference record in the event by just five-hundredths of a second. Freshman Kevin Van Cleave, junior Michael Lagieski, senior Reed Dalton and sophomore Ross Brown won the event in a B-cut time of 3:16.86. The Bears also had the top relay in the B final as freshman Jordan Wheeler, junior Reese Frerichs, freshman Andrew Pek and junior Justin Morrell finished in a B-cut time of 3:22.16.
O'Grady was the lone event-winner for the WashU women Thursday. She finished first in the 200 IM in a season-best and B-cut time of 2:04.14, while Gan was third in a season-best and B-cut time of 2:06.12. Senior Kristalyn McAfee also made the A final in the event, finishing eighth in 2:08.55.
Lagieski broke his own school record in the men's 200 individual medley prelims, then took another half-second off that time to finish as the UAA runner-up in a B-cut time of 1:50.43. He was edged by just .01 of a second for the title by Emory's Chandler Lichtefeld. Van Cleave also earned all-UAA honors by finishing third in a B-cut and season-best time of 1:50.93, which was also below Lagieski's previous school record. Senior RJ Petrella added a seventh-place finish in 1:54.09.
The women's 200-free relay team of senior Katie Anderson, Sapp, McAfee and junior MariMac Collins picked up all-UAA honors by finishing third in a B-cut time of 1:35.10. Collins also tied for fourth in the 50 free with a season-best and B-cut time of 23.84.
Brown, Dalton, Lagieski and Morrell teamed up to finish third in the men's 200-free relay. They posted a B-cut time of 1:22.43 in the event. Brown also made the A final in the 50 free, finishing eighth in 22.07. Sophomore Ryan Nathenson made the men's three-meter diving final for the Bears. He placed sixth with a career-best score of 379.05.
The UAA Championships continue Friday with finals in the 200-medley relay, 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 free, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 800-free relay and the women's three-meter diving. Prelims are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. (ET), with finals starting at 5:30 p.m. (ET).