Nov. 10, 2017

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.- The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams recorded 14 first-place finishes on the first day of a two-day meet Friday (Nov. 10) against Louisville and Princeton at the Aquatic and Fitness Center in Charlottesville, Va.

After day one, the No. 16 Cavalier women (4-0) lead No. 10 Louisville (0-3), 165-93, and Princeton (2-0), 211-47. The No. 23 Cavalier men (4-0) lead the Tigers (1-0), 171-81, but trail the No. 17 Cardinals (0-3), 145-107.

“The teams are performing really well,” head coach Todd DeSorbo said. “For us, it is another practice just like every day. The goal is to get better and learn from meet to meet, and I think the teams are really doing that. Emma Seiberlich, Jen Marrkand and Caitlin Cooper led us on the women’s side. It was exciting to see the women’s four by one-hundred medley relay go 1-2 against a strong Louisville team. I think our women are stepping up and performing at a level that we see every day from them at practice.

“The guys are in a little bit of a tougher situation. We did not have any male divers today so we are going into the competition down, but the guys are swimming well against a tough Louisville team. Both the men and women at Louisville are ranked higher nationally than our programs. There were some good swims tonight as Samuel Schilling (Excelsior, Minn.), in the 800-freestyle relay, split at a 1:36, which is right around his lifetime best, coming off of a long day. I definitely want to give a big shout out and thanks to our alumni for coming back on alumni weekend. They (alumni) are definitely bringing the heat in the stands and helping with the energy. It is a lot of fun to have them back here. We are excited about tomorrow and capping off the weekend with some good racing.”

The women’s team saw four Cavaliers finish first with NCAA “B” Standard times as senior Caitlin Cooper (Atlanta, Ga) paced the 50-yard freestyle (22.22), senior Jennifer Marrkand (Westford, Mass.) paced the 100-yard butterfly (53.88), junior Vivian Tafuto (Hummelstown, Pa.) paced the 100-yard breaststroke (1:02.16) and freshman Emma Seiberlich (Audubon, Pa.) paced the 100-yard backstroke (53.93).

Freshman Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala.) finished first in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:51.15.

Junior Kylie Towbin (New Canaan, Conn.) topped the 3-meter dive, recording a score of 328.10.

Additionally, the women’s team swept the relay events, starting the meet with a win in 200-yard freestyle relay. Sophomore Morgan Hill (Olney, Md.), junior Eryn Eddy (Loveland, Colo.), freshman Anna Pang (SINGAPORE) and Cooper, respectively, recorded a time of 1:30.37.

Seiberlich, Tafuto, Pang and Eddy, respectively, won 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:38.56, while Seiberlich, Tafuto, Pang, and Cooper, respectively, won the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:39.99.

The team concluded the night with Marrkand, Hill, senior Laine Reed (Austin, Texas) and Eddy, respectively, finished first in the 800-yard freestyle relay with a time of 7:12.75.

On the men’s side, sophomore Ted Schubert (Ashland, Va.) paced the 400-yard individual medley, recording an NCAA “B” Standard time of 3:52.15. Junior Zach Fong (Moorestown, N.J.) recorded the top time in the men’s 200-yard individual medley. He touched the wall with a time of 1:49.47.

In the relays, sophomore Joe Clark (Worcester Park, Great Britain), freshman Joseph Barnum (Louisville, Ky.), junior Bryce Keblish (Fairfield, Conn.) and sophomore Ryan Baker (Arlington, Va.), respectively, won the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:14.62, while Clark, Barnum, Fong, and senior Luke Georgiadis (Jacksonville, Fla.), respectively, won the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:28.46.

The Cavaliers will conclude the two-day meet against Louisville and Princeton tomorrow. The competition will begin at 9 a.m. at the Aquatic and Fitness Center in Charlottesville.