By Lianne McCluskey, Swimming World Intern.
Day 2 of the Atlantic 10 Championships brought outstanding performances, beginning with George Washington’s Moritz Fath setting a new meet, conference and pool record in the 500 Freestyle at SPIRE Institute on Thursday night.
The George Washington Colonial Men and Duquesne Women held onto the top team spots through Thursday night. After Thursday evening finals, the following are team standings:
Women’s 500 Free
Fordham Junior Caitlin McNary captured the first title of the evening in the 500 free, popping a time of 4:50.91. Fordham and Duquesne dominated the distance final, with both teams taking three spots in the A final. Richmond Senior Nicole Piercy was able to capture the runner up position with a time of 4:51.63, with Lauren Devorace hitting the wall in a close finish at 4:51.77.
- Caitlin McNary FORD 4:50.91
- Nicole Piercy RICH-VA 4:51.63
- Lauren Devorace DUQU 4:51.77
- Carson Gross DUQU 4:53.15
- Paulina Watson FORD 4:53.36
- Gemma Atherley GW 4:53.69
- Summer Svitavsky DUQU 4:55.63
- Bayley Frierson FORD 4:56.78
Men’s 500 Free
Fath’s time of 4:19.21 was 7.01 seconds faster than his morning swim and 6.87 seconds ahead of 2nd place finisher Thacher Scannell of Davidson. Scannell beat out George Mason’s Attila Kiss by .02 for the silver spot on the podium with a time of 4:26.06.
Top 8 Results:
- Moritz Fath GW 4:19.21
- Thacher Scannell DAV 4:26.06
- Attila Kiss GMU 4:26.08
- Josh Legge GW 4:27.01
- Kyle McElwee LaSalle 4:27.43
- Crossan Cooper DAV 4:28.13
- Walt Dauksher DAV 4:30.71
- Logan Eubanks GMU 4:33.06
Women’s 200 IM
2018 Most Outstanding Rookie, Emma Brinton, returned to the pool in the 200 IM, scorching the field with a new meet record time of 1:58.90. George Washington senior Emily Zhang took the silver medal on the podium (2:00.83), and Duquesne senior Abby Stauffer took bronze (2:01.07). Brinton, Stauffer, and freshman Audrey Steen carried the momentum and strong representation for the Dukes top overall ranking.
- Emma Brinton DUQU 1:58.90
- Emily Zhang GW 2:00.83
- Abby Stauffer DUQU 2:01.07
- Jackie Torrez GW 2:01.44
- Sarah Shepard DAV 2:01.62
- Morgan Soulia RICH 2:02.24
- Audrey Steen DUQU 2:02.38
- Maggie Purcell RICH 2:04.27
Men’s 200 IM
George Mason Sophomore Dylan Peck lead the way in the men’s 200 IM, clocking an NCAA B Cut Time of 1:46.61 to capture the crown. Tommi Wolst George Washington senior finished in a close 2nd, followed by George Mason’s Ryan Donnelly. In an exciting finish, the first four finishers hit the wall within 1.5 seconds of each other, St. Bonaventure’s Tjaard Krusch narrowly missing the podium.
- Dylan Peck GMU 1:46.61 (NCAA “B” Cut Time)
- Tommi Wolst GW 1:47.53
- Ryan Donnelly GMU 1:47.94
- Tjaard Krusch St. BON 1:47.96
- Collin O’Brien Saint Louis 1:48.63
- Zachary Wolbert La Salle 1:48.63
- Youssef Ragab GW 1:49.55
- Grant Streid Saint Louis 1:50.50
Women’s 50 Free
Underdogs University of Massachusetts not only represented in the finals of the 50 free, but it would be senior Ansley Baker who would take gold in the sprint with a time of 22.93 to out-touching Fordham’s Tara Brunner. Hannah Gouger of Richmond followed with a 23.10.
- Ansley Baker UMASS 22.93
- Tara Brunner FORD 22.97
- Hannah Gouger RICH 23.10
- Rebecca Smolcic GW 23.12
- Caroline Racke GW 23.28
- Michelle Martin (Fordham) and Olivia Distefano (La Salle) 23.31
- Maggie Farrell DAV 3.51
Men’s 50 Free
It was George Washington’s senior Alex Auster who took the win in the 50 freestyle. His time of 20.15 splashed past top George Mason freshman Jacob Miller and La Salle junior Marcus Forsgren.
- Alex Auster GW 20.15
- Jacob Miller GMU 20.29
- Marcus Forsgren La Salle 20.31
- Will Rastatter GMU 20.46
- David Shakhnazarov St. BON 20.56
- Ryan Pedrick UMASS 20.58
- Nick Ashton GMU 20.63
- Michael Tartakovsky UMASS 20.79
Women’s 200 Free Relay
The George Washington relay team of Emily Zhang, Meghan Burton, Rebecca Smolcic and Caroline Racke finished their evening in the natatorium by tying the pool record and breaking the conference and meet record with a time of 1:31.53. In a close heat amongst all the teams, the Rams took 2nd place, while the UMass women finished 3rd. With a 4th place finish for Duquesne and strong representation throughout the evening, they were able to keep the #1 overall team ranking in their grasp.
- George Washington 1:31.53
- Fordham 1:32.28
- Massachusetts 1:32.78
- Duquesne 1:33.38
- Richmond 1:33.55
- George Mason 1:33.77
- La Salle 1:34.57
- St. Louis 1:34.62
- Davidson 1:35.13
- Rhode Island 1:36.05
- St. Bonaventure 1:36.76
Men’s 200 Free Relay
The men’s 200 free relay event finished off the night with the George Washington Colonials getting their hands on the final wall first, breaking the 1:20 barrier with a time of 1:19.85. George Mason and La Salle followed closely, but were not able to affect the Colonials overall reign moving into Day 3.
- George Washington 1:19.85
- George Mason 1:20.21
- La Salle 1:21.44
- Saint Louis 1:21.74
- Massachusetts 1:22.06
- St. Bonaventure 1:22.14
- Davidson 1:22.74
- Fordham 1:23.00
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