George Washington Men and Richmond Women Win 2021 Atlantic-10 Team Titles

2021 ATLANTIC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS

• April 14-17, 2021 (Diving April 15-16 @ George Mason)
• Geneva, OH (SPIRE Institute)
• Meet Central
• Live Results
• Live Stream (ESPN+)
• Day 1 Recap
• Day 2 Men/Day 2 Women
• Day 3 Recap

The 2021 Atlantic-10 Championships wrapped up at the SPIRE Institute on Saturday night, powered by the finals of the 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, and 400 free relay. The women’s and men’s sessions were separated by roughly three hours to be courteous of social distancing measures. At the end of both sessions, the George Washington (GWU) men and the Richmond women were crowned this year’s A-10 team championships, both winning by 100-plus points.

Day 4 Women’s Highlights

For the majority of the 1650 free final heat, Richmond freshman Alexa Connors held a 3-4 second lead over GWU junior Erin McCarthy. At the final 100-mark, McCarthy accelerated her pace to catch Connors, closing her race in 29.71/28.43 (58.14). Connors took the win at 16:40.68 while Connors settled for second at 16:41.62.

Dropping a hefty 1.56s from prelims to win the 200 back final was La Salle junior Sara Rizzetto, closing in a 29.54 to establish herself with a 1:57.65 winning time. A trio of freshmen finished behind Rizzetto, all swimming under two minutes, led by Richmond’s Katelyn Pennell (1:58.20), Duquesne’s Reagan Linkous (1:59.22), and GWU’s Marlee Rickert (1:59.22).

Registering the only sub-50 swim to take the 100 free title was Richmond sophomore Lauren Medlin, touching the wall at 49.61, a mere 0.04s drop from prelims. In the race for second, Davidson sophomore Abby Francis flipped two-tenths behind Duquesne junior Hanna Everhart at the last wall until Francis caught Everhart with a strong 12.59 closing 25. Francis took runner-up at 50.09 while Everhart settled for second at 50.29.

Richmond junior Margaret Purcell pulled away from the 200 breast field after the half-way mark, easily taking the A-10 title at 2:13.70. St. Bonaventure teammates junior Rachel Kimmel (2:14.72) and senior Hayley Tasselmeyer (2:15.77) placed second and fourth, sandwiching third-place finisher George Mason junior Jacquee Clabeaux (2:15.43).

The top three finishers in the final event, the 200 fly, all swam under two minutes and dropping more than a second from prelims. Winning the grueling event was Davidson sophomore Shelby Stanley, stopping the clock at 1:57.82. Touching in for second was Duquesne junior Audrey Steen at 1:58.80 while Richmond sophomore Claire O’Shaughnessy hit the wall at 1:59.53 for third place.

The Richmond women capped off their 2021 team title by winning the 400 free relay by 3.6s, featuring Medlin (49.97), Purcell (49.83), Pennell (50.73), and O’Shaughnessy’s (50.50) combined effort of 3:21.03. The Davidson women placed second at 3:24.62 while the Duquesne women’s narrow 3rd place finish of 3:24.80 was good enough to secure their team runner-up title. La Salle’s relay finished in fourth at 3:25.23, powered by 100 free champ anchor Mizzetti (49.73).

Final Women’s Team Scores

1. University of Richmond 687.5
2. Duquesne University 539
3. Davidson College 515
4. George Washington University 438
5. University of Massachusetts 352
6. George Mason University 317
7. La Salle University 254.5
8. St. Bonaventure University 215
9. Saint Louis University 206
10. University of Rhode Island 113

Day 4 Men’s Highlights

The Massachusetts men opened the session with a 1-2 finish in the longest event of the program, the 1650 free, or the mile. Senior Tyler Pidde won the event by seven seconds at 15:28.61 while freshman teammate Wilson DuBois (15;35.80) caught GWU junior Dong Hyeon Hwang (15:37.07) at the 800-mark to secure second place.

After sweeping the 100 fly/back on day three, GWU freshman Karol Mlynarczyk topped the 200 back final at 1:43.04, dropping 2.5s from prelims. Behind him was a St. Bonaventure 2-3 finish, led by senior teammates Maciej Danilewski (1:44.28) and Tjaard Krusch (1:45.18).

The 100 free race was tight between sophomores GWU’s Tyler Kawakami and George Mason’s Josh Fletcher, with the pair never being separated by more than a tenth at each wall, including the finish. Kawakami touched out Fletcher by 0.05s to take the win 44.18 to 44.23. In the race for third, freshmen Davidson’s Ian Brann touched out George Mason’s Anthony Nguyen by 0.03s at the touch 44.53 to 44.56.

GWU junior Marek Osina had one of the largest winning margins of the day, taking the 200 breast title by 3.64s at 1:56.93, dropping 4.18s from his morning swim. The 2nd-5th place finishers in this event were separated by three-tenths of a second, including a 0.03s separation between runner-up and 3rd place. Massachusetts freshman Jack Artis kicked in another gear in an attempt to close George Mason senior Dylan Peck‘s 1.1s-lead at the 150-mark. Despite his closing effort at 32.01, it was Peck who took the meager advantage for second over Artis 2:00.57 to 2:00.60.

Breaking another conference/meet record was GWU senior Emils Pone, winning the 200 fly with a new A-10 conference, meet, and SPIRE Institute pool record of 1:45.19, only 0.04s ahead of runner-up La Salle junior Zack Wolbert (1:45.23). Both swimmers were under the 2020 A-10 records of 1:45.83 by George Mason’s Luke Devore and the 2015 pool record of 1:45.78 by SIU’s Lucas Aquino.

Leading off the GWU 400 free relay with a one-second lead after his leg was fly/backer Mlynarczyk, swimming 43.66, which would have won the individual final by 0.52s. Following Mlynarczyk were Osina (44.21), Pone (43.97), and Kawakami (43.84) to combine for a 2:55.68 winning time with three sub-44 legs to officially win the 2021 A-10 team title. Touching in for second was George Mason at 2:58.08, securing their team runner-up finish, while St. Bonaventure capped third-place finish at 2:58.68, just 0.05s ahead of Davidson (2:58.73).

For those counting, GWU earned five straight event wins (200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, 400 free relay) on the last day of competition to secure the conference team title.

Final Men’s Team Scores

1. George Washington University 828.5
2. George Mason University 564
3. Davidson College 503.5
4. University of Massachusetts 468.5
5. St. Bonaventure University 457
6. La Salle University 339
7. Saint Louis University 208.5