This weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, in-state and ACC foes Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia will battle in a two-day dual meet. In tonight’s session, the UVA women were largely dominant, while the Hokies led the way in the men’s meet. However, the points will continue to climb and competition will once again heat up tomorrow when the next session of the meet begins at 11 am ET.
Tonight on the women’s side, UVA won every event besides the 200 butterfly. UVA’s A relay of Shannon Rauth, Ellen Thomas, Caitlin Cooper, and Ellen Williamson started off the meet with a win in 1:32.76. Courtney Bartholomew, Kaitlyn Jones, and Ellen Williamson went 1-2-3 in the 200 IM, picking up 16 points for the Cavaliers. Bartholomew’s 2:00.96 was the top time in the event. In the 500 freestyle, Leah Smith swam a full ten seconds faster than the rest of the field, touching in an impressive 4:45.80.
Laura Simon claimed the 100 breaststroke in 1:01.01, well over two seconds ahead of her competition, and then in the 200 backstroke, Courtney Bartholomew achieved her second individual event win of the evening in 1:54.30. Bartholomew’s impressive 200 backstroke time was over five seconds ahead of the next finisher, her teammate Jen Marrkand (1:59.59) and was another 1-2-3 sweep for the Cavaliers. Ellen Thomas won the women’s 100 freestyle event in 51.04, but then Klaudia Nazieblo claimed VT’s only event win of the evening in the 200 butterfly, picking up 9 points for her school. Her time of 1:58.91 was almost two seconds ahead Ellen Williamson (2:00.55) and Kaitlyn Jones (2:00.97) of UVA.
In the last event of the session, Virginia was back on top. The Cavalier’s A 400 medley relay of Courtney Bartholomew, Laura Simon, Ellen Williamson, and Ellen Thomas touched first in 4:40.26, and the B relay raced to the wall to take second. The score as of the end of Day 1 was UVA 120 – VT 66.
In the men’s meet, an opposite trend was observed. The Virginia Tech men were largely dominant, winning all of the evening’s events except for the 100 breaststroke and the 100 freestyle. In the 200 freestyle relay, UVA only had one relay entered. VT’s A relay of CJ Fiala, Morgan Latimer, Brandon Fiala, and Owen Burns won the event in a time of 1:21.48.
Virginia Tech continued its event-winning streak for the next two events, with Brandon Fiala taking first in the 200 IM (1:49.56) and Michal Szuba claiming a win in the 500 freestyle (4:30.48). Virginia’s Yannick Kaeser beat out VT’s Brandon Fiala for a win in the 100 breaststroke, touching in 55.61 and picking up one of the evening’s two event wins for the Cavaliers. Collin Higgins and Robert Owen went a close 1-2 in the 200 backstroke, finishing in 1:46.19 and 1:46.29, respectively. In the 100 freestyle, however Matthew Lockman claimed another win for UVA in 45.70, just ahead of VT’s CJ Fiala.
The Hokies were back on their game to win the remainder of the events of Day 1. Morgan Latimer finished well over three seconds ahead of the rest of the field in the 200 butterfly, and then the Hokies’ A 400 medley relay of Collin Higgins, Brandon Fiala, Morgan Latimer, and Owen Burns touched first in 3:16.70, well ahead of the field. In the 400 medley relay, UVA had three entered relays as opposed to just the one that was entered in the 200 freestyle relay earlier in the session. The Day 1 score sits at VT 114 – UVA 72, a closer meet than the women’s.
Tomorrow’s session begins in Charlottesville at 11 am ET.