Virginia Tech Dominant On Day 1 Of Hokie Fall Invite

2016 Hokie Fall Invitational

Thursday was the first of three days at the 2016 Hokie Fall Invitational hosted by Virginia Tech. Both the Hokie men and women got off to a good start with substantial leads in the points race.

Other teams competing at the meet include Purdue, U.S. Naval Academy, William & Mary, Villanova and Yale.

The 200 free relays started off finals tonight, with Virginia Tech taking the win for both the men and women. On the women’s side, the Hokies won in a time of 1:31.73, just getting by Purdue who finished 2nd in 1:32.00.

The men, led by a 19.98 lead-off from Brandon Fiala, dominated en route to the win in 1:19.69 over the U.S. Naval Academy who were 2nd in 1:21.41.

VT got two more wins in the 500 free with Jessica Hespeler (4:40.51) and Michael Craddock (4:26.08) each collecting a victory. Kaersten Meitz of Purdue took 2nd for the women in 4:42.72, while Hassler Carroll made it a 1-2 finish for the Hokie men in 4:28.62.

Another dominant performance in the 200 IM saw the women go 1-2 and the men go 1-2-3-4, as the Hokies continued to roll on day 1. For the women it was Fiona Donnelly (1:58.20) and Klaudia Nazieblo (1:58.41) finishing 1st and 2nd as the only two under 2:00.

The men were led by Norbert Szabo who posted a quick winning time of 1:44.92, just ahead of Fiala (1:45.27).

We finally saw some other teams take wins in the 50 free, as William & Mary and Yale both got on the board. For the women, Jaimie Miller of William & Mary took the win in a tight race in 22.81, just over Purdue’s Jackie Smailis (22.89).

Yale’s Aaron Greenberg took off nearly half a second from prelims to steal the win from Virginia Tech’s Ian Ho, who was sub-20 in the morning. Greenberg touched in 20.04 to Ho’s 20.07.

Connecticut’s Alli Butera came out on top in the women’s 3-meter diving, scoring 309.95 to just beat out Virginia Tech’s Ashlynn Peters (3:08.50).

Virginia Tech capped off the first day in style, winning both 400 medley relays to head into day two well ahead of the field. The women won by three-and-a-half seconds, touching in 3:38.13 to Purdue’s 3:41.69.

The men had a much closer battle, winning in 3:14.11 with Purdue (3:14.78) close behind.

Heading into day two, the Hokie women hold a nearly 100-point lead while the men have a cushion of over 250 points.

Men’s Scores

  1. Virginia Tech, 443.5
  2. U.S. Naval Academy, 176
  3. Purdue, 171.5
  4. William & Mary, 154
  5. Yale, 138.5

Women’s Scores

  1. Virginia Tech, 354
  2. Purdue, 257
  3. Villanova, 165.5
  4. William & Mary, 158.5
  5. Connecticut, 110

 

 

 

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About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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