NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Davidson’s Luke Burton and Richmond’s Irina Chiulli were named the Atlantic 10 Conference Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Performers of the Week, respectively, the league announced on Tuesday. Also honored were George Washington’s Josh Monacelli, who was named the Men’s Rookie of the Week, and Richmond’s Nicole Piercy, the Women’s Rookie of the Week. Awards were based off performances from Oct. 12-18.
Burton, a senior from Kennesaw, Ga., went undefeated in all six events he swam against George Mason at the Richmond Duals. The Wildcats captain posted impressive times in all four individual races he swam. He captured titles in the 200-yd freestyle (1:40.67), 50-yd backstroke (23.68), 100-yd backstroke (50.24) and 200-yd backstroke (1:50.31).
The 2015 A-10 Most Outstanding Diver, Chiulli won all four events she competed in at the Richmond Duals. The junior from Westwood, Mass. posted scores of 274.40 and 286.20 in the 1-meter springboard, and scores of 254.30 and 287.80 in the 3-meter springboard. She has the highest scores in the A-10 thus far, and has already posted an NCAA-Zones qualifying score after just one meet.
Monacelli, a native of Orlando, Fla., posted four first-place finishes in a win against Howard. He had individual victories in the 100-yd breaststroke (1:00.38) and the 200-yd IM (2:00.67), while also helping the Colonials to wins in the 200-yd medley relay (1:39.44) and the 400-yd freestyle relay (3:16.40).
Piercy, a native of Newport News, Va., notched first-place finishes in the 500-yd freestyle (5:10.20) and 1650-yd freestyle (17:37.92) in a win over George Mason at the Richmond Duals. In a win against Duquesne, she came in second in the 1650-yd freestyle and third in the 500-yd freestyle.
Swimming news courtesy of Atlantic-10 Conference.