William & Mary Smashes Records to Open CAA Championships
CHAMP CENTRAL | RESULTS | THURSDAY PRELIM HEAT SHEETS
CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. (Feb. 19, 2020) – The CAA record book looked a little different following the first day of the CAA Swimming & Diving Championships, as the William & Mary men’s relay teams took gold at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center on Wednesday afternoon.
UNCW leads on the men’s side with 134 points after the first day. Towson with 92 points narrowly edged Drexel with 91 points for second. William & Mary sits fourth with 80 points, while Delaware is fifth with 65 points.
Just 12 points separates the top four teams on the women’s side. William & Mary leads with 74 points, followed by Drexel with 66, Towson 64 and James Madison with 62. UNCW and Delaware sit fifth and sixth with 58 and 56 points, respectively. Northeastern, who was disqualified in the 200-yard medley relay, sits seventh with 24 points.
200-Yard Medley Relay
The Drexel quartet of Alexa Kutch, Gabrielle Rudy, Hollie Hopf, and Lera Nasedkina captured the Dragons’ third gold medal in the event in four years. Drexel finished with a time of 1:39.26, beating out the CAA all-time record set by Northeastern in 2018 by just 0.02 seconds. The Dragons edged William & Mary, who earned silver with a time of 1:40.56. Just behind the Tribe was Towson, who finished with a time of 1:40.60 to take bronze.
The William & Mary men started the 2020 CAA Championships with a bang, capturing its fourth consecutive gold medal in event with a time of 1:25.52. Colin Demers, Ian Bidwell, Jack Doherty, and Ian Thompson not only broke the CAA all-time record set by the Tribe last season, but also the Christiansburg Aquatic Center pool record. The Tribe finished nearly three seconds ahead of UNCW in second, as the Seahawks finished with a time of 1:28.03. Bronze was taken by Towson with a time of 1:28.08.
Men’s 1-Meter Diving
UNCW’s Kolbein Bjugan became the first Seahawk to capture gold in the 1-meter dive since Allen Crosby in 2017. Bjugan totaled a score of 285.45, outscoring Towson’s Will Canny by just under 10 points. Canny, the 2019 CAA Diver of the Year, came into the final as the top seed after posting a score of 270.90 to lead the preliminaries earlier in the day. Canny finished with a score of 275.95. UNCW’s Brett Palo also had a good showing, taking bronze with a score of 272.55.
800-Yard Freestyle Relay
In the only swimming event of the afternoon that didn’t see a record fall, William & Mary captured its second 800 free title in three years. Megan Bull led off a relay team consisting of Inez Olszewski, Katie Stevenson, and Tara Tiernan that took gold with a time of 7:15.42. James Madison failed to defend its title, taking silver with a time of 7:17.66. Towson narrowly fell to the Dukes, capturing bronze in 7:17.87.
Christopher Pfuhl, Colin Wright, Graham Hertweck, and Ben Skopic continued William & Mary’s decade of dominance in the 800 free, leading the Tribe to its 10
th consecutive title in the event. The Tribe set a new CAA all-time record, breaking the previous record set in 2016, with a time of 6:26.86. Drexel finished second with a time of 6:33.53, while UNCW finished third with a time of 3:36.46.