The William and Mary men’s and women’s teams gave it their all, but could not find a way to beat the ranked Duke teams. They did, however, top the Old Dominion Monarchs in a competitive match.
The Tribe, Blue Devils and Monarchs squared off in a three-team meet Saturday afternoon in Durham, N.C. The College topped Old Dominion, winning 141-130 on the women’s side and 175-113 on the men’s side. The Tribe women (4-3, 2-2 CAA) couldn’t keep up with No. 17 Duke (5-0, 2-0 ACC), falling 181-87. The men (5-1, 3-0) didn’t fare much better, losing 164-108 to the No. 19 Blue Devil team (5-0, 2-0 ACC).
The women’s team was led by freshman Morgan Smith. She won the 1000-yard free against the Monarchs (0-6) in convincing fashion with a time of 10:25.87. Also against Old Dominion, freshman Annie Miller won the 50-yard free with a time of 24.11 seconds. Senior Jessie Ustjanauskas won the 100 free with a time of 52.8 seconds. Miller and Ustjanauskas also teamed up with sophomore Annie Valls and freshman Katie Sell to win the 200-yard medley relay in 1:44.89.
The success against the Monarchs was widespread, with junior Sophie Rittenhouse winning the 200-yard back in 2:03.06. Junior Georgie Crompton also won an individual event, taking just 56.58 seconds to win the 100-yard fly. Junior Selina Fuller won the 200 free and sophomore Rachel Anderson won the 200-yard fly.
Against Duke, the Tribe women didn’t have as strong a showing, but their performance did have some bright spots. Miller, Ustjanauskas, senior Noelle Klockner and sophomore Jess Crowley won the 400-yard free relay. In addition, Smith won the 400-yard IM in 4:35.99.
On the men’s side, senior Will Manion was dominant against both the Blue Devils and Old Dominion (1-4). He won the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke against both teams. He also teamed up with fellow seniors Jeremiah O’Donnell, Justin Barden and Billy Russell to win the 200-yard medley relay against the Monarchs with the seventh-fastest time in school history, 1:31.03.
O’Donnell also won the 400-yard IM against both Duke and Old Dominion. Freshman Eric Grimes was a definite high point for the College, as he dominated the long freestyle events against the Monarchs. He won the 500-yard free in 4:41.36. He also posted the thirteenth best time in school history in the 1000-yard free at 9:41.22.
Freshman Maicoll Gomez had a strong meet, posting a 200-yard fly time of 1:53.12, recording the sixteenth-fastest swim in that event in Tribe history. Junior Joe Eiden won the 50-yard free against Old Dominion with an impressive 21.16 and sophomore Kyle Neri finished in 46.36 seconds to win the 100-yard free.
Both William and Mary men’s and women’s teams are done with the fall dual meet season. Their next competition will be Nov. 20-22 at the Bucknell Invitational in Lewisburg, Pa.