Virginia Concludes Opening Day at Louisville
LOUISVILLE, Ky.- The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams concluded the first day of competition against ACC foe Louisville on Friday (Nov. 2) at the Ralph Wright Natatorium in Louisville, Ky., splitting the opening day’s results with the Cardinals.
The No. 7 Virginia women concluded the first day’s action leading the No. 8 Cardinals 91-74, while No. 16 Virginia men trailed 109-58 against No. 13 Louisville.
“It was a challenging and successful first session up here in Louisville on the road,” head coach Todd DeSorbo said. “It’s our first road competition of the season and the kids have responded really well. I got to hand it to Louisville, they bring a lot of energy. They are swimming really well also, and challenging and pushing us. I am pleased with where we are at. A lot of our athletes are swimming better this weekend than they have in the last couple of dual meets. That is challenging to do on the road but that is definitely our goal, to have this be our fastest dual meet of the semester since it is our last dual meet. Our goal is always to get better as the season goes.”
The women’s team opened the meet with wins in six out of the session’s nine events. Sophomore Emma Seiberlich (Audubon, Pa.) led the team, with a first-place finish and eighth fastest time nationally in the 200-yard backstroke at 1:55.80. Sophomore Abby Richter (Henderson, Nev.) swam a time of 2:00.04 in the 200-yard individual medley for first place, while sophomore Paige Madden Mobile, Ala.) recorded a time of 4:48.35 in the 500-yard freestyle and freshman Kaki Christensen (Darien, Conn.) recorded a time of 1:01.59 in the 100-yard breaststroke to top their respective events.
Junior diver Sydney Dusel (Naperville, Ill.) posted a season-best score of 300.75 on the 1m board, pacing the event and capturing the win for the Cavaliers.
The women capped the first day with the 400-yard medley relay team of Richter, Christensen, sophomore Anna Pang (London) and Hill recording a first-place finish with a time of 3:36.35.
In the men’s competition, the Cavaliers placed two swimmers inside the top three of four events. Sophomore Sam Schilling (Excelsior, Minn.) led Virginia with a second-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle, recording a season-best time of 44.52. Freshman Justin Grender (Cincinnati, Ohio) captured a time of 1:47.04 for second place in the 200-yard backstroke, while sophomore Matthew Otto (Newark, Del.) finished second in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 55.04.
The Cavalier men captured the second and third best 400-yard medley relay finishes, led by the team of junior Joe Clark (Worcester Park, Great Britain), sophomore Keefer Barnum (Louisville, Ky.), senior Bryce Keblish (Fairfield, Conn.) and junior Ryan Baker (Arlington, Va.). The four swam a time of 3:14.51.
“I’m really pleased with where the kids are at and how they are racing,” DeSorbo said. “They are executing their races better here than they have in the last few weeks. It is just about getting better and battling. The women’s meet is pretty tight and we got another half of the meet session tomorrow morning, that we will need to come out and be ready to go, because I am sure Louisville will. Looking forward to the guys trying to whittle into the lead that Louisville has built.”
Virginia will conclude its dual meet with Louisville tomorrow with action beginning at 10 a.m.