Virginia Splits Dual Meet with Virginia Tech
Christiansburg, Va. – The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams split their dual meet against Virginia Tech on Saturday (Jan. 18) at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center. The No. 3 Cavalier women defeated Virginia Tech 186-111, while the No. 15 Virginia men’s team fell 158-141 to the No. 24 Hokies.
The Cavalier women won 13 of 16 events with senior Morgan Hill (Olney, Md.), junior Abby Richter (Hendersonville, Nev.), sophomore Alexis Wenger (Detroit, Mich.) and freshman Kate Douglass (Pelham, N.Y.) capturing a first-place finish in a pair of individual events.
Hill captured the top time in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle at 22.99 and 50.35, respectively. Richter won the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:02.68 and the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:03.99, while Wenger placed first the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:01.72 and the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:16.55. Douglass recorded the fastest time in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:46.29, before capturing the top time in the 100-yard butterfly at 51.85.
Senior diver Sydney Dusel (Naperville, Ill.) recorded a career-best score on the 3m board to win the event with 373.50 points. The score ranks second all-time at UVA, a rank she already held.
The women’s team would also record wins from junior Marcella Maguire (Ridgefield, Conn.) in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 55:54, senior Erin Earley (Orange, Conn.) in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:59.05 and freshman Maddie Donohoe (Annandale, Va.) in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:55.43. The women’s team closed out the day with 400-yard freestyle relay team of Hill, freshman Ella Nelson (Nashville, Tenn.), freshman Ella Collins (Austin, Texas) and Douglass recording a time of 3:20.85 for first place at the meet.
The Cavalier men opened their side of the meet with senior Joe Clark (Worcester Park, Great Britain), junior Keefer Barnum (Louisville, Ky.), junior Cooper Wozencraft (Houston, Texas) and senior Ryan Baker (Arlington, Va.) swimming a time of 1:28.23 to win the 200-yard medley relay.
Additionally, the men’s team won five individual events. In the mile, junior Matthew Otto (Newark, Del.) reached the wall with a time of 15:21.38 to place first. Clark was the top swimmer in the 100-yard backstroke, recording a time of 49.27, while Barnum topped the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 54.90. Baker won the 100-yard freestyle, swimming a time of 44.66 and senior Ted Schubert (Ashland, Va.) went 1:48.69 in the 200-yard individual medley for the first-place finish.
“The men and women both had challenging meets today at VT,” head coach Todd DeSorbo said. “We got off to a sluggish start, shaking off the cobwebs coming off of winter training. Once the women got rolling, they were pretty unstoppable. Kate (Douglass) continues to impress with her versatility, swimming some races for the first time this year. Alexis (Wenger) came through with two wins as well as Morgan (Hill) and Abby (Richter). We’ve got phenomenal depth as we had eight different women win events today. The men had a very tough battle against a well-coached VT team. The meet came down to the last few races and unfortunately, we had a little bad luck and came up short. We had five different guys win events and our depth really came through to keep us in the battle. I believe our men will be looking forward to seeing VT again at ACCs next month.
“I’m excited to get back to Charlottesville and host ACC rivals NC State and North Carolina next weekend.”
Today’s head-to-head matchup against the Hokies did not count as part of the Commonwealth Clash, the matchup between Virginia and Virginia Tech, sponsored by Virginia529. The Commonwealth Clash points for the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will be determined at the ACC Championships in Greensboro, N.C.
The Cavaliers will return to action Friday (Jan. 24) to host NC State at the Aquatic and Fitness Center in Charlottesville, before closing out the regular season on Saturday (Jan. 25) against North Carolina. Virginia will celebrate Senior Day at its home meet against the Tar Heels.