The West Virginia University swimming and diving teams open the 2017-18 season with the fifth annual Gold-Blue Meet on Saturday, Sept. 30. The intrasquad meet is set to begin at 10 a.m. ET, at the WVU Natatorium.
“We’ve had a very good preseason and start to our season,” coach Vic Riggs said. “It’s a fun format but will also give us an opportunity to see them race for the first time. I’ll be looking to see what we’ve learned and what we need to improve going into our season.”
The Mountaineers will split into two teams – Gold and Blue – for the preseason competition. The Gold team has won the event the past two seasons.
Saturday marks the start of Riggs’ 11th year at the helm of the WVU swimming and diving programs. Last season, the Mountaineer men finished second at the Big 12 Championship for the second consecutive year, while the women placed fourth.
Junior Jake Armstrong returns to the team following his 100 breaststroke Big 12 Conference title last season. The Dover, Ohio, native became WVU’s fifth men’s Big 12 champion and ninth overall since joining the conference in 2013.
On the women’s side, senior Amelie Currat, the 2017 Big 12 Women’s Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year and CoSIDA Academic All-American, is back for the Mountaineers, as is the reigning Big 12 Women’s Swimming and Diving Newcomer of the Year, junior Morgan Carr.
Multiple student-athletes that broke program records in 2016-17 also return this season, including junior Emma Harris, who broke West Virginia’s 200 breaststroke record at the Big 12 Championship, earning a time of 2:12.37 and a second-place finish. Additionally, senior diver Michael Proietto broke the program’s 1-meter record at the Big 12 Championship. The Aston, Pennsylvania, native earned a score of 366.85, finishing second in the event.
In all, the WVU rosters feature 15 seniors (10 men, five women) and 14 newcomers (seven men, seven women) on the two teams.
The Mountaineers will officially open the regular season next week when WVU hosts the West Virginia State Games, a two-day competition featuring collegiate swimming and diving programs from across the Mountain State.
The competition begins with diving events on Friday, Oct. 6, at 4 p.m. ET, at the WVU Natatorium, with swimming slated to begin at 6 p.m. Saturday’sevents start at 10 a.m.
Press release courtesy of WVU Athletic Communications