Swimming & Diving #CAAChamps Day 3 Recap

2/24/2017 9:06:07 PM

Tim McDonnell

Day 3 Results | #CAAChamps Central | Highlights

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (February 24, 2017) – The third day of the 2017 CAA Swimming and Diving Championships saw Drexel win a total of five events, highlighted by a sweep in the men’s and women’s 100-yard breaststrokes, and a sweep of both team relays.

The team standings remained the same, however, with the William & Mary men and the James Madison women holding the advantage heading into Saturday. The Tribe own 624.5 overall points, while the Dragons own 477 for second. The Dukes have 550.5 team points on the women’s side, followed by William & Mary, which has 480.5.

Friday Finals: 400-Yard Individual Medley | 100-Yard Butterfly | 200-Yard Freestyle | 100-Yard Breaststroke | 100-Yard Backstroke | Women’s 1-Meter Dive | 400-Yard Medley Relays

400-IM
James Madison senior Claire Adkins took gold in the first event of the night in 4:19.54. Towson’s Ashley Illenye finished second (4:21.30), and JMU’s Maddie Massey placed third (4:21.70).

The conference grabbed a look at the future on the men’s side as three freshman took the podium. The Tribe’s Chris Balbo placed first in 3:49.46, and teammate Ben Skopic followed for silver in (3:50.90). A day after setting a new title meet and all-time CAA record in the 200-IM, Drexel’s Jason Arthur took home bronze in 3:53.20.

100-Fly
Sara Touchette-McGowan took home the first individual medal of the championships for Northeastern, timing an NCAA qualifying mark of 54.06. That is the first individual CAA title for a Husky since 2006. Abby Mack of William & Mary (54.18, another NCAA qualifier) and Mina Feyrer of Delaware (55.20) finished second and third, respectively.

Towson sophomore Jack Saunderson set the new meet and all-time record in prelims earlier on Friday, and added that new record even more. Saunderson cruised to another benchmark of 47.01, while JT Lumpkin of Drexel (48.48) and Evan Baker from William & Mary (48.51) also earned medals.

200-Free
Jaimie Miller, who won the 50-free yesterday, grabbed another gold for the W&M women in 1:47.87. The Dukes grabbed the next two spots, with Bonnie Zhang and Shannon Harper earning silver and bronze with respective times of 1:48.00 and 1:49.72.

The Tribe’s Joe Eiden kept his title in the event for another year, winning first-place in 1:38.28. Drexel’s Ivo Pejovic (1:38.75) and Luke Hanner (1:38.87) joined Eiden on the podium.

100-Breast
Drexel stole the show in both finals, with Rachel Bernhardt defending her own title in 1:00.37, and Joseph Brown outlasting the men’s field in 55.10. Yet again, the JMU women obtained the next two spots on the podium thanks to Katie Parker (1:02.04) and Megan Marsh (1:02.34).

100-Back
Drexel freshman Alexa Kutch came through with her first career individual title, clocking a first-place time of 53.25. That mark broke the championship and all-time record alone, but earlier on Friday, Kutch already upped that showing in prelims, finishing in 53.22. TU’s Jacy Icard (53.43) and defending event champion Sophie Rittenhouse (54.14) followed in order.

The men’s 100-back saw UNCW senior Tad Spence win gold in 48.17. Towson’s Dominic Breschi finished second (48.55), and William & Mary’s Alex Henderson finished third (48.87).

Women’s 1-Meter Dive
Following the first gold medal of her career on the 3-meter board Wednesday, James Madison senior Olivia Lehman completed the championship sweep with another victory tonight. Lehman, who scored 298.80, is the Dukes’ sixth consecutive conference title winner on the 1-meter board. Drexel senior Madison Kramer won silver, scoring 288.10, and JMU freshman Carlyn McNeely won bronze (270.30).

400-Medley Relay
Drexel won its last two titles of the night to end a solid Day 3, with the Dragon women and men colleting gold in the only team relay. Kutch, Bernhardt, Forsthoffer and Claudia Duguay timed 3:40.03, while JMU (3:40.74) and William & Mary (3:41.22) placed second and third.

The winning Dragon men’s team consisted of Arthur, Brown, Lumpkin and Pejovic. That squad touched the wall in 3:14.37, beating teams from Towson (3:15.14) and William & Mary 3:15.37 for gold.

Both relay wins were the first at the CAA Championships for the Dragons all-time in the event.

Men’s Teams Standings – Day 3
William & Mary (624.5)
Drexel (477)
Towson (385.5)
UNCW (301.5)
Delaware (219.5)

Women’s Team Standings – Day 3
James Madison (550.5)
William & Mary (480.5)
Towson (354.5)
Drexel (324)
Northeastern (287)
UNCW (215)
Delaware (146.5)