CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – After the first day of competition in Charlottesville, both H2Okie teams sit in between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Princeton Tigers. The Virginia men lead the meet with 646.5 points, followed by Tech (447.5) and Princeton (419.5). On the women’s side, Virginia leads with 667 points, followed by the Hokies (526) and the Tigers (352.5). The H2Okies earned six individual titles in the first 28 events, including taking first place in all four diving events and earning three diving sweeps. Erika Hajnal and Stephen Hawkins each won individual swimming titles.
Virginia Tech picked up its first title of the day with a 4:15.90 finish by junior Erika Hajnal in the 400-yard individual medley. Hajnal’s time was fast enough to make the NCAA “B” cut in her second event of the season, after qualifying in the 500 freestyle at Penn State. Stephen Hawkins earned a gold medal in the 100 backstroke for the men, swimming a 50.01. Ryne Francis took a close second, swimming a 50.40.
The H2Okie divers once again dominated their competition, winning all four events and earning three sweeps. Carissa Santora took home the gold in the women’s 1-meter springboard, earning a 262.20, and Sarah Milton followed closely in second with a 258.85. Milton then won the 3-meter springboard competition with a 276.75, followed by Santora (250.40) in second and Cara Murnan (240.85) in third.
Ryan Hawkins earned his first career title on the 1-meter springboard, scoring a 347.25. Logan Shinholser, Daniel Martin and John Trope rounded out the top four, scoring 327.50, 294.35 and 264.05, respectively. Shinholser went on to win the 3-meter event, earning 384.00 points. Hawkins, Martin and Trope once again all finished in the top four for the H2Okies’ third sweep of the day.
The two-day tri-meet will resume tomorrow morning with the final session beginning at 10 a.m.