2015 CAA Swimming & Diving Championships: W&M Men End UNCW’s Run

2015 Colonial Athletic Association Men’s & Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships

The final night of the Colonial Athletic Association conference championship begins at 6pm.  The Towson Tigers women look to preserve their lead, while the William & Mary Tribe men hope to end UNCW’s thirteen year run as conference champions.

On a more somber note, will also be the last CAA conference meet for the College of Charleston, as the school made a decision to end the program after this season.

Women’s 1650 – Finals

Towson sophomore Macey Arnold won her third individual event of the meet, cruising to the win in final heat of the 1650 in a time of 16:16.00, a time that is over four seconds under the time it took to get a NCAA invite in this event last year.  Arnold had the fastest split in Towson’s first-place 800 free relay Wednesday night, and she won individual victories in the 500 free and the 200 free the past two nights, which should make one of the favorites for swimmer of the meet on the women’s side.  In second was fellow Towson Tiger Liz Saint (16:37.00) and third was W&M’s Selina Fuller (16:47.54).

Men’s 1650 – Finals

Towson’s Matt Lowe defended his title in this event, winning in 15:16.95.  In second was Thursday’s 500 free winner, Delaware sophomore Cory Camp (15.26.64).  Towson had a total of five swimmers finish in the top eight, including the third place finisher, Jon Burr (15:29.76).

That swim puts Towson into second place on the men’s side.  W&M helped preserve their lead over UNCW with eleventh and twelfth place finishes by freshmen Tommy Kealy and Conrad Zamparello, while UNCW only had swimmer pick up points, fifteenth-place finisher Stephen Topping.

Women’s 200 Back – Finals

The Towson Tigers are currently 3-3 tonight thanks to a win by junior Charlotte Holz (1:57.48).  Northeastern’s Anna Schegoleva finished in second in 1:58.38.  Last night’s winner in the 100 back, W&M’s Sophie Rittenhouse,went out fast, but couldn’t hold the lead over the second half, picking up third in 1:58.40, a time that was over two seconds faster than her preliminary swim this morning.  Towson had another two swimmers in the A-final, tacking on more points to their lead.

Men’s 200 Back – Finals

The top three swimmers in this morning’s preliminaries were separate by only 0.06, but in the end, none of those three won.  Instead, W&M’s Will Manion repeated as champion in this event, dropping 2.52 seconds from his morning time and setting a new CAA record with a time of 1:44.03.  Fellow Tribe swimmer, and last night’s co-champion in the 100 fly, Justin Barden, touched second in 1:44.51. Third was UNCW’s Valterri Halonen (1:45.65).

Women’s 100 Free – Finals

Delaware’s Morgan Whyte ran down W&M’s Jaimie Miller over the final 25 to touch her out 49.44 to 49.72.  Third was JMU’s Camila Czulada in 49.92.

Men’s 100 Free – Finals

Drexel’s Joel Berryman picked up his second individual event win of the meet.  Berryman won the 50 free on Thursday, and won the 100 free tonight in a time of 43.77, only .2 off of the conference meet record.  In second was defending champion and Tribe junior Billy Russell, who finished in 44.50.  Just behind him was Matt Hans (44.53).  Hans was swimming from lane eight, and touched first at the 50, but couldn’t quite hold on in the second 50.

Women’s 200 Breast – Finals

Towson got back to their winning ways in this event.  Junior Jenna Van Camp had already likely earned a invite to the NCAA championship meet with her 100 breast swim yesterday, but further solidified her position tonight, with a 2:10.03.  That’s over a second under the time it took to get an invite in this event last year.  She won tonight by over four seconds.  Drexel’s Rachel Bernhardt came in second with a  2:14.13, and JMU’s Sin Hye Won placed third with a time of 2:14.90.

Men’s 200 Breast  – Finals

Jeremiah O’Donnell won his third event of the meet, earning victory in the 200 breast with a time of 1:57.39.  Fellow W&M swimmer Josh Zimmt came in second with a 1:58.48, followed by William Ryan of College of Charleston in 1:59.10.  O’Donnell’s three victories, which included new CAA meet records in the 200 IM and 400 IM, makes him one of the clear stars of the meet and a likely candidate for men’s swimmer of the meet.  W&M had two more swimmers in this A-final, and they seem to be headed toward a victory this week.

Women’s 200 Fly – Finals

The Towson women continue to roll.  Victoria Oslund has won her second event of the meet.  She won the 100 fly yesterday, and solidified her position as the best flier in the conference with a winning time of 1:59.11.  W&M’s Jessie Ustjanauskas (2:00.16) and Abby Mack (2:00.95) took second and third.  Through the end of the individual events, the Towson women have 688 points, JMU has 600, and the Tribe have 555.

Men’s 200 Fly – Finals

Towson junior Matt McKinney broke his own meet record in this event, finishing with a time of 1:45.68.  In second was W&M freshman Evan Baker (1:46.80) and in third was Drexel’s Kyle Lukens (1:46.87).  At this point, the W&M men have almost a 200 point lead over second-place Towson, 744-568.  UNCW is in third with 464.

Women’s 400 Free Relay – Finals

The JMU Dukes set a new conference record tonight, winning in 3:20.45, lowering the old record by .20.  Delaware finished second in 3:20.  The Towson women finished third in 3:20.96, but already had sown up the championship by this swim, their third in a row.

Men’s 400 Free Relay – Finals

The William & Mary also just needed to finish in order to secure their conference championship, but they did a lot more than that, winning by over two seconds in a time of 2:56.94, which was only .25 off the conference record.  The Tribe men will return three of their four legs of this relay next year, so they figure to have another shot at it.  UNCW came in second in 2:58.77, and Drexel placed third with 2:58.94.

Finals Score

Women

1.  Towson – 720

2.  JMU – 640

3.  William & Mary – 585

4.  Delaware – 498

5.  Northeastern – 364

6.  UNCW – 283

7.  College of Charleston – 202

8.  Drexel – 201

Men

1.  William & Mary – 784

2.  Towson – 599

3.  UNCW – 565

4.  Drexel – 464

5.  Delaware – 461

6.  College of Charleston – 390

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