The women from James Madison University are off to a great start at the 2014 CAA Championships hosted at the Eppley Recreation Center on the Campus of the University of Maryland. The first day of the CAA Championships featured the men’s and women’s 200 medley relay, women’s 3m diving, and the men’s and women’s 800 freestyle relay.
In the first event of the evening, the James Madison women broke the Colonial Athletic Association meet record in the 200 medley relay. Although they had been faster than their record prior to the meet, the quartet of Kacy Edsall (25.78), Shannon Dubay (27.77), Kelsey Holmgaard (22.43) and Susanne Gingher (22.42) posted a time of 1:40.34, setting a CAA meet record. The relay from Towson pushed them all the way to the finish, touching second at 1:40.53. UNCW was a close third place, posting a time of 1:40.85.
On the men’ side, the William & Mary men touched out the men from UNCW, narrowly missing the CAA meet record by .03. The team of Will Manion (22.51), Andrew Strait (24.04), Justin Barden (21.39), and Billy Russell (19.49) touched the wall with a time of 1:27.43, just ahead of UNCW, who finished with a 1:27.63. Drexel earned a third place finish with a 1:29.22.
Next up was the women’s 3-meter diving. After out-diving the rest of the field in prelims with a meet record of 365.65, JMU’s Taryn McLaughlin re-broke her meet record in finals, winning the event with an impressive score of 373.85. Drexel’s Madison Kramer finished second with a score of 351.85 and Towson’s Natalee Szopo finished third at 341.70.
The Towson Tigers, led by Kendall Towe (1:48.69), Charlotte Holz (1:47.48), Melanie Rowland, (1:48.79) and Kaitlin Burke (1:46.60) broke the CAA Championship record to win the final women’s event of the day, with a final time of 7:11.56. JMU took second place at 7:17.58 and William & Mary finished third at 7:21.54.
The men’s 800 freestyle relay looked similar to the men’s 200 medley relay. William & Mary earned the top spot on the podium with a 7:31.77, followed by UNCW at 6:33.87, and then Drexel with a 6:35.91. The team of Taegan Clarke (1:38.34), Andrew Strait (1:37.46), Will Manion (1:37.80), and Billy Russell (1:38.17) broke the meet record they set last year at 6:32.12.
Day 1 Women’s CAA Championship Standings
1. James Madison (120)
2. Towson (111)
3. Delaware (94)
4. Drexel (66)
5. Northeastern (64)
6. William & Mary (60)
7. College of Charleston (56)
7. UNCW (56)
Day 1 Men’s CAA Championship Standings
1. William & Mary (80)
2. UNCW (68)
3. Drexel (60)
4. College of Charleston (58)
4. Towson (58)
5. Delaware (56)
W&M senior Andrew Strait with a 1:46.80 in the 200 IM this morning, a new conference record! I wonder if he can shave off some more time tonight and have a shot at a NCAA invite. Don’t know if W&M has ever had a male swimmer swim at the NCAA championship or not.