The men and women both picked up victories in the meet against Towson last Saturday. The meet was the first Colonial Athletic Association matchup of the season for both William and Mary teams.
In the women’s meet, the Tribe (4-1, 1-0 CAA) narrowly edged out the Tigers (3-2, 0-1 CAA), 135-127. The Tribe took an early lead with some close wins before the Tigers took the lead with just a couple events remaining in the meet. The College was able to use a relay victory in the last event to overtake the Tigers and win its first CAA meet of the season.
In the first event, the 200-yard medley relay, the College picked up a close victory over the Tigers. Junior Katie Sell, senior Annie Valls, senior Abby Mack and junior Annie Miller combined to edge the Tigers out by 0.25 seconds. Miller entered the pool for the final leg with the College slightly trailing the Tigers; however, she took the lead for the Tribe as she touched the wall just ahead of the Tigers Caitlin Manthe.
The Tribe picked up key wins in the 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard butterfly. Freshman Megan Bull won the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:53.39 and junior Maria Oceguera won the 200-yard butterfly in 2:04.57.
The College entered the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay trailing by one point, 123-122. With the result of the meet hanging in the balance, sophomore Emma Herold, Bull, freshman Tara Tiernan and Sell combined to win by just under a second. Sell touched the wall to give the Tribe the victory with a time of 3:28.47 as the Tigers came in second with a time of 3:29.26.
In the men’s meet, the College (3-1, 1-0 CAA) more than doubled the Tigers’ (1-4, 0-1 CAA) score, 177-85. The Tribe never trailed as it cruised to a meet victory, winning 11 of the 14 events of the day.
The College jumped out to an early lead with a win in the first event, the 200-yard medley relay. Senior Wyatt Grubb, freshman Devin McNulty, sophomore Jack Doherty and sophomore Colin Wright combined to push the Tribe to a speedy time of 1:31.16, the 14th fastest time in school history. This was enough to beat the Tigers by more than two seconds.
The Tribe also picked up some big individual race victories. McNulty and junior Carter Kale each won two individual events. McNulty won the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke with times of 57.39 seconds and 2:07.39, respectively. Kale won the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:52.48 and the 500-yard freestyle in 4:37.72. The College finished the meet with a victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Senior Kyle Neri, Sophomore Ben Skopic, Doherty and Wright won for the Tribe in a time of 3:05.73.
Up next, the women have another CAA matchup against Delaware, North Carolina-Wilmington and James Madison in a meet hosted by the Seahawks Nov. 4-5. The men will also be in action at that meet, facing Delaware and North Carolina-Wilmington. Both teams will be looking to maintain their unblemished CAA records.