Swimming & Diving #CAAChamps Day 3 Recap
Tim McDonnell
Day 3 Results |
#CAAChamps Central Page |
Highlights
CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. – Through three days of competition at the 2018 CAA Swimming and Diving Championship, the William & Mary men and the James Madison women held their respective team advantages leading into Saturday.
The Tribe expanded their lead and now own 619 total points, followed by Drexel’s 518 output in second. Yet again, the women’s side will come down many, if not all of the Day 4 events as four teams all have collected at least 310 points. JMU leads the way with 418 total points, two-time defending CAA champion William & Mary sits close behind with 407, while Towson (374), Northeastern (336), and Drexel (310) all are within striking distance.
For complete information at the 2018 CAA Championship, visit
CAASports.com/SDChamps.
400-IM
William & Mary’s
Morgan Smith won gold in the first event of the night with a time of 4:19.88. JMU’s
Abby Ortman (4:22.93) and
Katie Parker (4:23.98) followed in second and third to give the Dukes some critical team points.
One year after earning silver, Tribe sophomore
Ben Skopic broke away from the pack late to grab gold in 3:50.17. That marked the fifth straight 400 IM title for the W&M men. Towson’s
Colin Roddy (3:53.04) finished second and W&M sophomore
Ian Bidwell (3:54.20) followed in third.
100-Fly
The headlines in the men’s 100 fly once again revolved around Towson’s
Jack Saunderson, who for the second consecutive championship set a new meet and all-time CAA record. The junior crushed his own 47.01 performance from 2017, sprinting to the wall in 45.75, which also broke a Christiansburg Aquatic Center pool benchmark. Tribe teammates
Jack Doherty (48.17) and
Ian Thompson (48.35) collected silver and bronze.
On the women’s side, the top two podium spots from last year remained the same. Northeastern senior
Sara Touchette-McGowan kept her crown, winning gold in 54.30, W&M’s
Abby Mack picked up silver (54.83) for the second time in as many seasons, and UNCW’s
Vivian Louviere captured bronze in 54.95.
200-Free
The Huskies obtained their fourth individual title of the championship and second of Friday after sophomore
Megan Clark provided a first-place finish in 1:47.20. Amazingly, Clark is just the third women in championship history to win both the 50 and 200 freestyle events at the same title meet, joining W&M standouts
Katie Radloff and
Jaimie Miller. JMU’s
Bonnie Zhang won silver for the second straight season in 1:47.90 and fellow Duke
Quinn MacMillan was just behind for third place (1:48.46).
Stathis Malamas sparked the first of three straight event wins for the Drexel men, earning gold in the 200 free (1:37.55). The Tribe’s
Colin Wright (1:37.80) followed in second, while
Patrick Cobb joined his Dragon teammate
Malamas on the podium with bronze (1:38.52).
100-Breast
The Tigers of Towson won their second individual gold medal of the meet when
Jacki Schoening became just the third TU female to win the 100 breast all-time, and the first since 2015.
Schoening led the way in 1:01.67, with Drexel’s
Gabrielle Rudy (1:01.78) and NU’s
Klara Juliusson (1:01.96) following in order for second and third.
The Dragons’ momentum carried over quickly in the men’s 100 breast as
Ralph Cannarozzi (54.86) and
Joseph Brown (54.89) finished 1-2 with NCAA B cut performances. Seahawk freshman
Gianmichel D’Alessandro captured his first career medal in third place (55.11), also NCAA B cut worthy.
100-Back
Drexel’s
Alexa Kutch won the event for the second straight season, and in eerily similar fashion to 2017, she entered the Day 3 Finals as the top seed following a record-setting performance in prelims.
Kutch set a meet record with her time in the prelims of 52.95, and followed with another NCAA B cut of 52.99 in the finals. Dragon sophomore
Alicia Diaz (55.13) and W&M’s
Katie Sell (55.23) rounded out the final two podium spots.
Dragon sophomore
Jason Arthur outlasted the Tribe’s
Colin Demers in the men’s race, with
Arthur touching the wall in 48.10 and
Demers hitting in 48.24. W&M freshman
Jake Kealy gave his team 16 more points with a third-place finish, and first career CAA medal.
Men’s 3-Meter Dive
Drexel’s
Anthony Musciano completed the perfect sweep on both boards at the title meet and finished Friday night with his first career gold medal on the 3-meter.
Musciano calmly scored 64.40 on his last dive to obtain the victory, finishing with a score of 306.75. A pair of freshman, UNCW’s
Seth O’Dea and Towson’s
Will Canny, picked up silver and bronze with respective scores of 299.40 and 290.35 for their first career conference medals.
400-Medley Relay
It was only fitting that the night concluded with a historic showing on the men’s side with both William & Mary (3:13.29) and Towson (3:13.56) setting new meet and all-time conference records. The Tribe’s first-place team consisted of
Demers,
McNulty,
Doherty,
and
Colin Wright, while the performance broke W&M’s previous mark that was set at the 2015 CAA Championship (3:13.83).
Northeastern ended Day 3 on a high note with its second medley relay title of the week. The Huskies’ team of
Christine Leong,
Juliusson,
Touchette-McGowan, and
Clark remarkably fought back near the midway point of the race to earn the significant victory – the program’s second all-time in the 400 medley relay and first since 2008.
Saturday’s prelim sessions start at 10:00 a.m. for swimming and 1:00 p.m. for the women’s 1-meter dive. At approximately 3:00 p.m., the timed 1650 free takes place before the last finals of the four-day title meet begin at 6:00 p.m.
Men’s Teams Standings – Day 3
William & Mary (619)
Drexel (518)
UNCW (376)
Towson (375)
Delaware (265)
Women’s Team Standings – Day 3
James Madison (418)
William & Mary (407)
Towson (374)
Northeastern (336)
Drexel (310)
UNCW (209)
Delaware (149)