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Swimming & Diving

H2Okies continue to dominate heading into final day of the H2Okie Fall Invitational

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. – The Virginia Tech swimming and diving program competed day two of the H2Okie Fall Invitational winning 11 of the 16 events to lead the five teams on Friday at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center.

The Tech women head into the final day first with a total of 1016.50 points, while South Carolina follows with 569.50. With a score of 359.50, Connecticut is third and William & Mary and Liberty round out the bottom with 355.50 and 264, respectively.

For the men, the No. 15 H2Okies sit first with a score of 1038, while the No. 21 Gamecocks follow second with 710.50. The Huskies are third with 362.50 and the Tribe rounds out the pack with 325.

The H2Okies started out strong, taking the first women’s event. The 200 medly relay team of Sabrina Benson, Alyssa Bodin, Heather Savage and Katarina Filova placed first with a NCAA B standard time of 1:40.49 to claim its first title of the night.

Tech’s B team followed in with a third, as Holly Harper, Keri Sink, Meaghan Holloway and Emily Ryczek swam a time of 1:42.89.

The men matched the women, as the quartet of Zach McGinnis, Emmett Dignan, Greg Mahon and Joe Bonk swam a B standard 1:28.00 to claim the 200 medley relay as well.

Laura Simon took second in the first individual race for the H2Okies as she touched the wall at the 4:19.22 mark of the women’s 400 IM for her first NCAA B standard. Blaire Kinsey followed Simon in fifth place with a time of 4:28.72, while freshman Natalie Cronk won the consolation heat and took ninth with a time of 4:28.29.

The men went 1-2-3 in the 400 IM, Evan Nicely took first and recorded his first NCAA B standard time of 3:53.91. Alex Lutterbein followed with another B standard time of 3:54.08, while Morgan Latimer took third with a time of 3:57.36.

Tech swept the 100 butterfly events. Savage continues to be undefeated this season, as the senior swam her third B standard time, touching the wall at the 53.52 mark. Holloway followed in fifth place with a time of 55.86, while Katie Gillespie and Benson finished seventh and eighth, respectively.

Mahon kept the men’s winning streak alive as he touched the wall with a B standard time of 47.98. Nick Tremols followed in at second (48.45) and Karl Botha took fourth (48.79).

The H2Okie women dominated the 200 freestyle as they claimed seven of the top-eight spots. Gabrielle Bishop won the event with a time of 1:50.13 and Ryczek took second with a time of 1:50.67. Jayme Katis (1:51.21), Katie Rogers (1:51.25), Rachel Sepanski (1:51.37), Addie Carne (1:52.48) and Filova (1:53.12) rounded out the final four spots, respectively.

Despite dropping its first event of the night, Tech went 2-3-4 in the 200 freestyle for the men. Owen Burns placed second with a NCAA B standard, 1:37.86. Freshman Lucas Bureau took third with a time of 1:40.20 and Kevin Hunt followed in fourth at the 1:40.35 mark.

Tech had four women place in the top-eight of the 100 breaststroke. Bodin recorded a B standard time of 1:01.48 to place second, while Sink took fourth with a time of 1:03.49. Touching the wall at the 1:04.37 was Kinsey and Mackenzie Stewart took eighth (1:05.23).

The women’s 100 backstroke was full of H2Okies as well. Tech claimed the top-five spots as Savage was the top finisher at the 54.24 mark good for another NCAA B standard. Harper (55.60), Benson (55.95), Brittany Boone (55.97) and Gillespie (56.90) all followed in the respective order.

The H2Okie men claimed six of the top-eight spots in the 100 backstroke. McGinnis was victorious as he touched the wall at the 47.07 mark, good for a NCAA B standard time.

In diving competition, Kaylea Arnett continued racking in events as she won the 1-meter with a score of 316.20. Logan Kline took second with a score of 294.55 for her first time competing this weekend, while Kelli Stockton placed fourth.

For the men, Logan Shinholser once again was victorious in the 3-meter event for his second title of the weekend. The senior recorded a score of 393.95 to take the title, while Kyle Butts was the next H2Okie to place, as he took third with a score of 361.70. Ryan Hawkins placed fourth and freshman Logan Stevens placed seventh.

The night ended with the Tech sweeping the 800 freestyle relay events. The A team of Filova, Bishop, Rycek and Savage won it on the women’s side with a B standard time of 7:22.61.

South Carolina claimed the rest of the events, including both breaststrokes, the women’s 400 IM, the men’s 200 freestyle and the men’s 800 freestyle relay.

Competition will start back up tomorrow, Nov. 17, with the preliminaries beginning at 10 a.m. The diving competition begins at 4 p.m. with the combined men’s and women’s platform, followed by finals beginning at 6 p.m., which will be streamed online at: http://www.fansonly.com/schools/vtec/allaccess/index.html?media=345584