MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (August 10, 2016) – West Virginia University Director of Athletics Shane Lyons has announced the 2016-17 WVU swimming and diving schedule.
The Mountaineers will host three home meets at the WVU Natatorium, including the Gold-Blue intrasquad meet to open the season on Saturday, October 1.
“This year’s schedule has a great mix of competition,” coach Vic Riggs said. “We have several meets with multiple teams in October that will offer several challenges and great competition. Heading to the NC State Invite will put us up against some of the strongest teams in the nation, and it be a great meet to prepare us for the Big 12 and NCAA Championships.”
For the sixth consecutive season, WVU will compete at the West Virginia State Games, hosted by Marshall on October 7-8 to open the regular season. The Mountaineer men and women’s teams took the victory in the nine-team field at the State Games last year.
The Mountaineers will host their second home event, as Seton Hall, Xavier and Butler’s women’s team come to Morgantown for the Big 12 vs. Big East Weekend on October 14-15. At last year’s meet, both the WVU men and women took first place, winning 38 of the 40 events.
On October 21-22, West Virginia travels to Blacksburg, Virginia, to compete against Virginia Tech, Duke and William & Mary. The Hokies will host the two-day event. WVU will close out fall competition at the N.C. State Invitational in Greensboro, North Carolina, from November 17-19.
Select Mountaineers will compete at the USA Swimming Winter Nationals in Atlanta, Georgia, from November 30- December 3.
“The second half is rivalry month with Pitt, TCU and Iowa State in January,” said Riggs. “I’m excited to add Butler to our schedule and then we finish against old Big East rival Villanova, which leads us into the Big 12 and NCAA Championships.”
The squad resumes competition in the spring with five meets, including a senior day competition against TCU.
On January 7, West Virginia travels to face rival Pitt. Last season, the WVU men’s team earned its first victory over Pitt in the Backyard Brawl meet since 2011.
Senior Day and the final home meet of the season takes place on January 14 when the Mountaineers host Big 12 foe TCU. The WVU women’s squad will then compete at Iowa State on January 21.
Regular-season competition wraps up over the weekend, as the team competes against Bucknell on January 27 and Villanova on January 28.
The Big 12 Conference Championship is set for February 22-25 in Austin, Texas. Last year, the Mountaineer men finished second while posting their best finish at the conference championship meet since joining the Big 12 in 2012-13, while the women finished fourth. Additionally, Andrew Marsh took home the gold and set a new Big 12 Championship record in the 100 backstroke.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUSwimDive on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
West Virginia University contributed this report.