Virginia Tech hosted William & Mary, West Virginia and ACC rival Duke Friday and Saturday at Christiansburg Aquatic Center. The hosting Hokie men came out on top in dual meets with all three teams, and it was the Duke women who swept their opponents.
Virginia Tech’s women opened the meet with a win in the 200 free relay. Caroline Buscaglia, Adriana Grabski, Danielle Griggs and Auriane de Premilhat touched in 1:33.40, just touching out the Duke foursome of Maddie Hess, Alyssa Marsh, Jessie Sutherland and Maddie Rusch, who came in at 1:33.58.
The men of Virginia Tech then won the 200 free relay. Ian Ho, Brandon Fiala and Harrison Pierce established a lead, and Brent Benedict held off William & Mary’s Joseph Eiden, who anchored in 20.15. VT touched in 1:22.10, and W&M was second in 1:22.54.
Duke got its first win of the meet in the women’s 200 IM as Leah Goldman won in 2:01.39, defeating the Hokie duo of Klaudia Nazieblo (2:01.63) and Fiona Donnelly (2:01.97). Robert Owen, the ACC swimmer of the week two weeks ago, then took down last year’s conference champion in the men’s 200 IM, fellow Hokie senior Brandon Fiala, 1:49.06 to 1:49.15.
Virginia Tech’s Jessica Hespeler dominated the women’s 500 free in 4:48.69, well ahead of Duke’s Verity Abel (4:53.28). The Hokie men then swept the men’s 500 free with freshman Hassler Carroll leading the way in 4:30.63. Norbert Szabo (4:31.80) and Nate Pawlowicz (4:33.42) finished second and third, respectively.
The Blue Devils scored huge points in the 100 breast. Ashleigh Shanley took first in the women’s race in 1:03.05, and then seniors Peter Kropp (54.63), Dylan Payne (54.72) and Michael Seaberg (54.83) finished 1-2-3 in the men’s event, with ACC champion Fiala settling for fourth (55.24).
Donnelly cruised to a win in the 200 back. Hess provided an early challenge, but Donnelly ended up pulling away and touching in 1:58.99, ahead of Duke’s Mickayla Hinkle (2:01.33) and Hess (2:01.34). Owen then posted a dominant 1:46.80 in the men’s 200 back.
Duke again took the top two spots in the women’s 100 free with Rusch (50.36) and Marsh (50.73). Hespeler ended up third in 50.89. On the men’s side, William & Mary got its first win of the meet as Eiden touched in 45.16. Ho and Duke’s Yusuke Legard tied for second in 45.73.
Nazieblo won the 200 fly in 1:57.61, with Duke’s Isa Paez second in 1:59.43. The Hokies scored big points in the 200 fly with Szabo touching out Christopher Wang 1:50.85 to 1:50.86.
In Friday’s diving events, VT’s Ashlynn Peters won the women’s three-meter with a score of 314.45, and Duke’s Nathaniel Hernandez wrapped up the men’s one-meter with 333.15 points.
Virginia Tech’s women took the top spot in the women’s 400 medley relay in 3:42.49 with Donnelly, Kelly Henry, Nazieblo and Hespeler. Duke’s Max St George, Kropp, Payne, Legard won the men’s 400 medley relay in 3:16.74 to wrap up the meet for Friday evening.
Saturday morning began with a pair of Duke victories in the 200 medley relays. Hess, Shanley, Marsh and Rusch won the women’s in 1:40.70, and St George, Kropp, Michael Miller and Legard captured the men’s in 1:29.05.
Hespeler again cruised in a distance freestyle race as she won the 1650 in 16:42.66, with Abel again finishing second. Szabo won the men’s mile for the Hokies in 15:47.26.
The Blue Devils again swept the top three spots in the women’s 50 free. Rusch won in an impressive 22.87, ahead of Marsh (22.30) and Goldman (23.45). Ho then won the men’s 50 free for the third straight week, as his 20.26 defeated Legard, who finished second in 20.45.
Virginia Tech’s Nazieblo (54.63) and Donnelly (55.20) took the top two spots in the women’s 100 back before St George touched out Owen by one one-hundredth, 48.91 to 48.92, in the men’s 100 back in one of the best races of the weekend.
200 breast victories went to Shanley (2:!7.61) on the women’s side and Fiala (2:00.13) on the men’s. Hespeler won her third race of the weekend with a 1:49.11 in the women’s 200 free. Szabo (1:39.11) and Carroll (1:40.61) took the top two spots in the men’s 200 free.
The Duke women continued their sprint dominance in the women’s 100 fly, where they again picked up the top three spots. Rusch won in 54.21, while Marsh finished second (54.57) and Paez third (54.89). Wang then got a tight victory over Payne in the 100 fly, 49.69 to 49.70.
Nazieblo picked up another win in the women’s 400 IM with a time of 4:22.06 before teammate Michael Craddock held off W&M’s Ben Skopic, 4:02.17 to 4:02.96, to win the men’s 400 IM, the final individual swimming event of the meet.
Saturday diving wins went to Duke’s Kirby Quinn in the women’s one-meter (283.30) and Virginia Tech’s TJ Shinholser (377.60).
The Duke women then concluded the meet with a win in the women’s 400 free relay as Rusch, Marsh, Hunter Aitchison and Goldman touched in 3:22.91. Szabo, Ho, Fiala and Jake Lamparella then won the men’s relay for the Hokies in 3:00.44.
The Duke women defeated Virginia Tech by a tight final score of 189 to 163. The Blue Devils also topped West Virginia (281 to 71) and William & Mary (282 to 64). Virginia Tech’s women took down West Virginia 286-66 and beat William & Mary 281-65. Willam & Mary beat West Virginia 176-164.
On the men’s side, the Hokies defeated the Blue Devils 210-141.5, as well as West Virginia (290-62) and William & Mary (277-69). Duke beat West Virginia 288-64 and William & Mary 251.1-94.5. The Tribe took down the Mountaineers 223-123.
Click here to view full results from the meet.
Juan Sebastian Enriquez Villamil