Virginia kept the ball rolling into the final two sessions of their five team dual meet on Saturday, picking up 11 event wins. The men were able to defeat the Harvard men (225.5-137.5) and Wisconsin (240-127), but fell to the Hokies (217-153) giving the men of Virginia Tech their first series win since 1981. The women remained on top winning against all three teams: Virginia Tech (245-125), Wisconsin (225-139), and Miami (266-93).
The Cavaliers got their first wins of the morning Shaun Casey and David Ingraham in the 400 IM. Casey claimed an NCAA B cut in the time of 4:18.51 while Ingraham dipped the under the 3:55 mark with a time of 3:54.71.
The women of UVA kept the ball rolling with a 1-2 finish in the 200 free with Leah Smith (1:48.63) grabbing first and Caroline Kenney (1:51.62) coming in at number two. Parker Camp matched the women’s win with a victory of his own, swimming a 1:38.71 in the 200 free.
The afternoon rolled on and more W’s rolled in for UVA. Laura Simon beat out Weronika Paluszek of Virginia Tech in the 100 breast in a time of 1:02.56. Yannick Kaeser and Taylor Grey finished 2-3 in the men’s 100 breast with a 56.17 and 56.69, respectively.
Depth turned out to be Virginia’s best friend in the 100 back with the Cavalier women going 1-2-3. Nation stand out Courtney Bartholomew blew away the field in an NCAA B cut, 53.78. Kaitlyn Jones finished second in 55.20 followed by Charlotte Clarke in 56.33. While the men weren’t able to grab a first place, they finished 2-4 with Jack Murfee (49.12) in second, Luke Papendick (49.15) third, and Kyle Dudzinski (49.25) fourth.
When UVA wasn’t touching the wall first, it was Ivy Martin of Wisconsin grabbing a victory in the 100 fly in a time of 54.95 alongside Morgan Latimer of Virginia Tech in a time of 48.68. Wisconsin’s Nick Schafer was able to get a win for the Badgers in the 100 breast, edging out Kaeser of UVA in a time 56.08. Hokie Collin Higgins added to VT’s point total by touching first in the 100 back in an NCAA B cut of 48.44.
UVA closed out the morning session with a women’s win in the 800 free relay while the men fell to Virginia Tech by only a half of second.
The afternoon session began with victories from the Wisconsin women in the 200 free relay and the Harvard men. However, it would continue to go UVA’s way beginning with the 500 free. Like in the mile, Leah Smith and Hanne Borgersen went 1-2 in the 500 free in times of 4:48.70 and 4:54.66.
In no time at all, UVA captured another 1-2 finish in the women’s 200 IM with Ellen Williamson (2:01.74) leading the way and Kaitlyn Jones (2:03.63) not too far behind. The men would replicate that and then some with a 1-4 finish led by Parker Camp (1:49.31) followed by Luke Papendick (1:50.76), Taylor Grey (1:51.98), and David Ingraham (1:52.27).
Wisconsin would find some life with a 1-2 finish in the women’s 50 free with Ivy Martin grabbing an NCAA B cut in 22.68 and Chase Kinney in a 23.59.
Harvard would continue its dominance in the sprints with Griffin Schumacher’s victory in the 50 free in a time of 20.33.
The men of Virginia Tech stayed alive through their control on the boards and impressive relay victories. Ryan Hawkins, Jared Butts, and TJ Shinholser went 1-3-4 on the men’s 1 meter. Earlier in the day, Hawkins, Shinholser, and John Trope went 2-4 on the men’s 3 meter. Their 200 medley relay (1:29.84), 800 free relay (6:36.43), and 400 medley relay (3:16.07) helped secure their first victory against UVA (and on what better day than their senior day).
After going to many UVA meets it was good to see the Cavaliers cheering on team mates. I’ve only seen that at ACC’s and NCAA’s.They actually seemed concerned with the score.