George Washington fell to Richmond in a dual meet last weekend. The Spiders claimed the meet with a 173-123 decision. Read on for recaps from both teams.
George Washington:
WASHINGTON – Freshmen Lucy Castro and Emily Zhang posted a pair of race victories on Saturday as the George Washington women’s swimming and diving team hosted Richmond at the Charles E. Smith Center.
The defending Atlantic 10 champion Spiders came out on top, 173-123, as the Colonials wrapped fall semester competition.
“I was very proud of our effort today,” said first-year head coach James Winchester. “Our women put forth 100 percent effort and their attitude was perfect across the board each and every race. We’re tired, we’re heading into finals, and some people might step out a little bit facing the defending champions and a great program over at Richmond, but we embraced each and every race, every dive on the board and the results show where we’re starting to make some movements and heading into a positive direction with our program.”
Castro and Zhang paced the Colonials, each winning a pair of events, as Zhang added two second place finishes to her day.
Castro’s first triumph came in the 1,000-yard freestyle as the rookie clocked in at 10:30.03 – more than seven seconds ahead of the next finisher. The distance swimmer did it again in the 500-yard free, touching the wall first in 5:09.26.
Zhang earned the top spot in the 200-yard free (1:53.42) and senior Madison Reinker took third in the event (1:56.63). The freshman then grabbed first in the 200-yard individual medley (2:08.67) and junior Lauren Law nabbed third (2:10.88). Zhang rounded out her day with second-place finishes in the 200-yard medley relay, alongside Law and sophomores Abigail Fusco and Hannah Kopydlowski, and in the 200-yard breast (2:29.00).
Law put together a solid day of her own, touching the wall first in the 100-yard free (53.07) and second in the 200-yard butterfly (2:08.24).
Fusco and Kopydlowski rounded out GW’s winning efforts in the 100-yard backstroke (59.81) and 50-yard freestyle (24.60), respectively, while the pair teamed up with freshman Isobel Walker and senior Maggie Hofstadter to take the top spot in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Senior Mara Debnekoff added a pair of third-place finishes in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:09.48) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:33.14). “I was very proud of our efforts today, but we can’t accept this as our peak,” said Coach Winchester. “We’re beginning to understand and realize that we can be more competitive than where we’ve been in our recent history, and that the talent has always been here. Our student-athletes are cultivating belief in each other and the belief that they can be competitive in this conference very quickly, and that the talent is here.
“We’re very excited to see where we head in the second half of the season. We’ve got to get back to work and take care of business in the classroom here over finals and over winter break to head into hopefully what is a successful spring.”
The Colonials take a month hiatus before returning to the pool on Saturday, Jan. 9, when GW hosts William and Mary at the Charles E. Smith Center Pool.
Richmond:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Richmond swimming and diving got a third dual-meet win over an Atlantic 10 opponent this season, winning at George Washington 173-123 Saturday at the Charles E. Smith Center.
The Spiders started with the 200 Medley relay and continued with individual wins and faster times from sophomore Erin Barry (Millington, New Jersey) in the 100 and 200 Breast, seniorMelissa Ross (Warrington, Pennsylvania) in the 200 Fly, sophomore Hannah Verrette(Marblehead, Massachusetts) in the 200 Back and senior Kelley Yang (Ellicott City, Maryland) in the 100 Fly before the swimming portion broke for diving.
Richmond took both the 1m and 3m boards. Sophomore Laura Rokop (Wildwood, Missouri) won the 1m event, surging to a 260.48 in her six dives, a season-best for her and just short of the NCAA Zones cut. Junior Irina Chiulli (Westwood, Massachusetts) was second in the 1m and won the 3m with a school-record score of 335.43, with Rokop taking second with a personal-best 280.50 to qualify for NCAA Zones. Junior Mikaela Gekas-Robinson (Woodbury, New Jersey) finished third in both events for the Spiders, with a season-best 211.20 in the 1m, just short of her personal-best total.
“This was a great way to wrap up our fall semester,” said diving coach Sean Letsinger. “I am very proud of how we performed today, but I know that there is still plenty of room for growth between now and our championship portion of the season.”
The Spiders break for exams and will head to Florida for their annual training trip during the break. Richmond will compete in Sarasota against Rhode Island on January 2.
Swimming news courtesy of George Washington and Richmond Swimming & Diving.