2020 COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, February 19-Saturday, February 22
- Christiansburg Aquatics Center, Christiansburg, Virginia (Eastern Time Zone)
- Defending Champion: James Madison women, William & Mary Men
- Live Video (requires subscription)
- Live Results
- Championship Central
A day after W&M senior Colin Wright made history by becoming only the 4th man from a mid-major to break 19 seconds in the 50 free (and likely becoming the Tribe’s first male swimmer to qualify for the NCAA champs since the 1960s), Wright continued to shine, and records continued to fall, in Christiansburg.
Wright set a new CAA record in the 200 free, with his time of 1:35.04 knocking the better part of a second off of a ten year old record that was previously set by Eric Knight at 1:35.85. Wright would also anchor W&M’s 400 medley relay in 41.87, as W&M became the first CAA school to go under 3:10 in that event, winning in 3:09.89.
The day got started with W&M going 1-2 in the 400 IM, as Ben Skopic completed the IM sweep with a 3:50.12 and 500 free champion Chris Balbo taking 2nd in 3:51.07. Jack Doherty kept things going for the Tribe with a meet record in the 100 fly, touching in 47.24.
UNCW interrupted W&M’s win streak with a 1-2 finish in the 100 breast. Gianmichael D’Alessandro won with a 53.86, with teammate Josh Rigsbee taking 2nd in 54.15. UNCW made it two in a row when Will Countie took down the meet and conference record with a 46.49 in the 100 back. W&M’s Colin Demers took 2nd in that race with a 46.69, but he’d topple Countie’s short-lived record with a 46.43 leading off the Tribe’s medley relay. Yet another Seahawk, Kolbein Bjugan, won the 3m diving event, with a score of 345.80.
At the end of three days, the W&M men have taken the lead, despite their lack of diving, and should extend that lead tomorrow.
Men’s Scores After Day 3
- W&M – 606.5
- UNCW – 568
- Drexel – 414
- Towson – 365.5
- Delaware – 210
On the women’s side, Towson, JMU, and Drexel each picked up wins, but the W&M women sit only 4 points behind the JMU Dukes, despite not earning any event wins today.
Towson senior Sarah Locke took the first event of the day, the 400 IM, by nearly two seconds with a 4:19.33 victory. JMU women collected the next two victories, as Morgan Whaley took the 100 fly in 54.37 and Bonnie Zhang won the 200 free in 1:46.44.
Drexel then got into the win column when Gab Rudy won the 100 breast in 1:00.44 and then Alexa Kutch then took the 100 back in 53.24. Unsurprisingly, those two powered the Dragons to the win in the 400 medley relay, where their time of 3:38.42 was nearly two seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
Women’s Scores After Day 3
- JMU – 425
- W&M – 421
- Towson – 383
- Delaware / Drexel – 294
- (tie)
- Northeastern – 171