Swimming & Diving #CAAChamps Day 1 Recap

2/22/2017 5:49:42 PM

Tim McDonnell

Day 1 Results | #CAAChamps Central | Highlights

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (February 22, 2017) – The 2017 CAA Swimming and Diving Championships started this afternoon from the Christiansburg Aquatics Center with three events opening the four-day title meet.

Two-time defending men’s champion William & Mary grabbed a pair of relay wins to take an early lead atop the men’s team standings with 80 overall points. James Madison captured the 800-free relay for the second straight season on the women’s side, and obtained 37 more points thanks to a one-two finish on the 3-meter board.

Day 1 events included the men's and women's 200-yard medley relay, the women’s 3-meter dive, and the men's and women's 800-yard freestyle relay. This is the first time since 2013 that both the diving and swimming championships take place simultaneously over the four-day championship meet.

200-Yard Medley Relay

Drexel’s team of Alexa Kutch, Rachel Bernhardt, April Forsthoffer and Claudia Duguay opened the meet with a bang, setting a new championships record with a time of 1:39.61. The performance also broke the all-time conference record (1:40.26) previously set in 2013. Even more impressive? Wednesday’s first-place finish was the Dragons’ first-ever team relay victory at a CAA title meet. Northeastern followed closely - touching the wall in 1:40.31 - setting a new program record for the event along the way. William & Mary, the two-time defending title winners in the 200-medley relay, finished third in 1:40.67.

After a disqualification in 2016 stopped the Tribe men from defending their title last year, the Green and Gold responded with a victory this time around. Wyatt Grubb, Alex Montes de Oca, Evan Baker and Colin Wright took home the win in 1:27.94 for 40 points. Towson, which sits in second place after Day 1, finished second (1:28.74), and UNCW rounded out the podium in third (1:29.80).

Women’s 3-Meter Dive

James Madison’s Olivia Lehman shined on the 3-meter board all day long, entering Wednesday’s finals as the top seed after winning the prelims earlier in the afternoon. The senior scored 310.65 to win gold, and now gets a shot at defending her own 1-meter title from 2016 on Friday. Fellow Duke, Carlyn McNeely, a freshman, finished second (296.00) to obtain her first career CAA medal, and Northeastern junior Alyssa Seales won bronze with a score of 268.50 – also her first career CAA medal.

800-Yard Freestyle Relay

Winning the 800-free relay has become a habit for William & Mary, as the Tribe men added to their streak by capturing the event title for the seventh straight championship. Alex Henderson, Eric Grimes, Tommy Kealy and Joe Eiden battled back against Drexel down the stretch, with Eiden completing a wild race in the final yards and hitting the wall in 6:32.35. The Dragons timed 6:32.72 for second, with Towson rounding out the top 3 with a time of 6:36.96.

Katie Parker, Emma Gourdie, Shannon Harper and Bonnie Zhang helped cap a successful Day 1 for JMU with a victory in 7:15.90. As mentioned, the Dukes won the event for the second straight season, though none of the swimmers on this year’s relay squad won gold in the event a year ago. The Tribe earned 34 points in second place (7:18.61), while Towson followed in third (7:20.85).

Thursday’s finals begin at 6:00 and feature three freestyle events, the 200-IM, and the men’s one-meter dive. The morning prelim sessions will be streamed free online via CAA.tv starting at 10:00 a.m.

Men’s Teams Standings – Day 1
William & Mary (80)
Towson (66)
Drexel (64)
UNCW (62)
Delaware (28)

Women’s Team Standings – Day 1
James Madison (112)
Towson (98)
Northeastern (96)
UNCW (85)
Drexel (76)
William & Mary (66)
Delaware (26)