Hokie ClubATLANTA, Ga. – The Virginia Tech swimming and diving program exploded in day two of the Yellow Jacket Invitational on Saturday at the Campus Recreation Center hosted by Georgia Tech. The H2Okie men climbed up to first place, while the women advanced to third.
“The H2Okies exploded today,” commented head coach Ned Skinner. “We swam great races and had great diving as we stepped up and represented in day two. It was a fantastic day for us and was a lot of fun.”
The Tech men climbed from third place yesterday to first today as they took home three event titles and 18 top-10 finishes. The women claimed two first-place finishes and 13 top-10 showings to help finish the day third.
Tech started the day off strong with a fourth and first-place finish in the 200 medley relay. The quartet of Sabrina Benson, Alyssa Bodin, Heather Savage and Margaret Parcell touched the wall fourth with a time of 1:42.54 which is two seconds faster than their season-best.
The men’s ‘A’ team of Charlie Higgins, Nathan Hoisington, Gregory Mahon and Zach McGinnis took the first title home of the day with a time of 1:29.10, which is also a season best.
Both the men’s and women’s 200 medley relay season bests qualified them for the NCAA B standards.
In addition to the 200 medley relay teams, senior Erika Hajnal qualified for NCAA B standards in the 400 IM with a time of 4:11.65 good for a second-place finish. Savage and Benson qualified in the 100 backstroke with preliminary times of 54.91 and 55.16, respectively.
Also qualifying in the 100 backstroke was McGinnis with a time of 48.08 that placed second overall on the day. In the last event for the women, the 800 freestyle relay team of Hajnal, Katie Rogers, Addie Carne and Rachel Sepanski qualified for the NCAA B standards, as well, with a third-place showing and a time of 7:23.11.
The men’s 100 backstroke was the strongest event of the night, as four H2Okies placed in the top-five. McGinnis placed second (48.08), Charlie Higgins followed in second (49.14), Mahon came in fourth (49.41) and lastly Collin Higgins placed fifth with a time of 49.69.
The Tech diving squad continues to impress taking home two titles today. Logan Shinholser placed first in the 1-meter event, for his second title on the weekend, while freshman Kaylea Arnett took the gold in the 3-meter event.
Arnett broke her previous school record of 343.50 in the 3-meter, with a 350.35 score on the day. Shinholser set a new season-best with a score of 365.75 in the 1-meter.
In addition to Shinholser, Ryan Hawkins recorded a top-five finish with a score of 338.60 in the 1-meter.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the diving team this weekend,” commented head diving coach Ron Piemonte. “The competition here is extremely high and so far to come away with three wins with Shinholser in the 3-meter yesterday and in the 1-meter today, also, with Arnett on the 3-meter today was great. Once again, I just can’t be more proud of this team.”
The final day of the Yellow Jacket Invitational will begin with the preliminaries starting at 9 a.m., following with the finals beginning at 3 p.m.