Hokie ClubCHRISTIANSBURG, Va. -- The Virginia Tech swimming and diving teams split their first dual meet of the 2013 campaign, as the men took down NC State, 185-113, on Saturday afternoon, while the women fell to the Wolfpack, 171-129.
The men earned a decisive victory, one year after the H2Okies tied the Wolfpack in their last regular-season meeting.
"This was a great team effort by our men," Head Coach Ned Skinner said. "We are an 'all hands on deck' team and they do it together. I respect this group and they are living that life for us."
Senior Ryan Hawkins earned two gold medals in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving for the second consecutive meet, putting 348.53 and 422.70 points in the events, respectively.
Junior Owen Burns picked up a trio of medals on the day, including a first-place finish in the 200 IM, with a time of 1:53.01. Burns also too third place in the 100 Freestyle and 100 Breaststroke.
The men finished the day with 34 medals across a total of 16 events, capturing 10 first-place finishes along the way.
Though the women took a loss in the team scores, there were standout performances on their side as well.
The H2Okies dominated the diving events, as juniors Kaylea Arnett and Kelli Stockton took the top two spots in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events. Arnett took gold in the 1-meter, scoring a 292.57 to top Stockton’s 281.92, while Stockton recorded a personal best 351.75 in the 3-meter to take gold over Arnett, who finished with 34.2.60.
Freshman Fiona Donnelly took first place in two of her three events, capturing the gold in the 200 Freestyle (1:51.55) and 500 Freestyle (4:58.65).
"The ladies were very gritty today," Skinner said. "They fought back from a deficit and made a great meet of it. We have a lot of positives to build on from today."
In all, the women earned 22 medals in the 16 events, including six golds.
The H2Okies will be back in action on Friday, November 1, when they hit the road for the first time this season for a meet at Ohio State with Denison and Cleveland State.