Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG - The Virginia Tech swimming & diving teams won five of their six contests on Saturday in the Virginia Tech Swimming & Diving Challenge as the H2Okie men defeated Penn State and Old Dominion while the women defeated Old Dominion, Liberty and James Madison, but fell to Penn State.
Owen Burns and Klaudia Nazieblo led the way for the H2Okies, winning three swimming events each. Tech also dominated the diving competition, with Thomas Shinholser, Kaylea Arnett and Ashley Buchter taking home victories.
Tech’s men improve to 2-0 on the year. They beat Penn State (2-1) by a score of 233-120 and Old Dominion by a score of 282-71.
Tech’s women (3-0) picked up three wins but fell to Penn State (5-0). They defeated Old Dominion by a score of 280-73, Liberty (5-2) by a score of 246-103 and James Madison (1-3) by a score of 267-84.
“I thought the energy was fantastic,” head coach Ned Skinner said. “We are a training-based team this time of year, so to come here and race as hard as they did was great. Our senior leadership is the best we’ve ever had. They are truly the heart and soul of this program.”
For the men, Burns dominated his races, taking first place in the 100 yard freestyle, the 200 yard freestyle and the 100 yard individual medley. He also swam the third leg of the 400 yard freestyle relay to help Tech win the event.
Jake Ores also performed exceptionally in the meet, winning both the 500 yard freestyle and the 1000 yard freestyle. C.J. Fiala earned a win in the 50 yard freestyle when he finished in 20.56, and his brother, Brandon Fiala, won the 50 yard breaststroke in 26.22. Morgan Latimer also picked up a victory in the 200 yard butterfly, clocking in at 1:50.34.
Justin Edwards, a freshman in his first college meet, won the 200 yard breaststroke in 2:06.19. Drake Becksted also won the 50 yard butterfly in 22:08, while also finishing third in the 50 yard freestyle.
The H2Okies won both the freestyle relay events. C.J. Fiala, Kevin Hunt, Adam Stacklin and Lucas Bureau swam the 200 yard freestyle relay to post a winning time of 1:22.81. C.J. Fiala, Bureau, Burns and Hunt teamed up in the 400 yard freestyle relay to pick up the win in 3:00.82.
On the women’s side, the star of the afternoon was Nazieblo, a freshman from Poland. Nazieblo won the 200 yard butterfly, the 200 yard backstroke and the 100 yard individual medley.
Holly Harper also picked up a win in the 50 yard backstroke, finishing in 26.25. Alyssa Bodin won the 50 yard breaststroke after clocking in at 29.26. Additionally, Weronika Paluszek took home the 200 yard breaststroke with a time of 2:16.69.
The Tech divers also contributed significantly in the meet, winning every diving event of the day.
“For the first meet of the year, we’re on the right track,” head diving coach Ron Piemonte said. “Everything looks very good and I was really pleased with how the divers performed today. We’re moving in the right direction, working really hard now, and I think this was a very good first meet.”
In the men’s diving events, H2Okie divers claimed every top-three spot in both events. T.J. Shinholser had two first-place finishes, winning the 1-meter event with a score of 326.80 and the 3-meter with a score of 353.60. Behind him in the 1-meter, Kyle Butts finished second and Mauro Silva finished third. Behind him in the 3-meter, Silva finished second, Butts finished third and Logan Stevens finished fourth.
Tech was nearly as dominant on the women’s side, claiming every first-place finish. Kaylea Arnett won the 1-meter with a score of 303.55 and took second in the 3-meter. Ashley Buchter won the 3-meter and took fifth in the 1-meter. Kelli Stockton finished fourth in the 1-meter and fifth in the 3-meter.
Next up for the H2Okies is a road trip to North Carolina to battle two ACC foes. Tech will travel to North Carolina on Saturday and Duke on Sunday.