Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG - The Virginia Tech swimming & diving teams finish one day of competition at the H2Okie Fall Invitational in the lead. Fiona Donnelly led the H2Okies, breaking the Virginia Tech record in the 200 individual medley.
"I was really pleased across the board,” head coach Ned Skinner said. “For example, Fiona Donnelly breaking the school record in the 200 IM was outstanding. The divers were excellent, both the men and the women. I thought the relays were outstanding, which just shows 'team.’ It shows the desire to do it for the cause. The energy on the pool deck was really good, keeping in mind that this not our main event of the year, it's kind of our halfway point."
In the women’s meet, Tech has a sizable lead with 420 points, leading No. 24 Alabama (200), South Carolina (199), Villanova (146), William & Mary (122), Ohio (72) and Liberty (48).
In the men’s meet, the No. 17 H2Okies are leading with a score of 422 ahead of No 15 Alabama (290), South Carolina (228), William & Mary (115) and Villanova (73).
Women’s Competition
In the first race of evening finals on day one, Tech’s women’s relay teams finished second and third in the 200 free relay to score quality team points for the H2Okies. In the next race, Jessica Hespeler picked up the first win for Tech in the 500 free, finishing with a time of 4:46.86.
The highlight race of the night, however, came in the 200 individual medley where Donnelly set a new Virginia Tech record, finishing in 1:58.67. Right behind her, Klaudia Nazieblo and Holly Harper finished second and third.
In the last event of the day for the women, Tech’s 400 medley relay team won with a time of 3:39.33 with Nazieblo, Weronika Paluszek, Maggie Gruber and Margaret Parcell swimming for the H2Okies.
In the women’s 3-meter diving event, Kaylea Arnett picked up another win, scoring 338.35. Behind her, Kelli Stockton, Ashley Buchter and Emma Villarreal finished second, third and fourth.
Men’s Competition
The Tech men opened the competition just like the women, taking second and third in the 200 free relay.
In the 500 free, Michal Szuba placed second after racing with a time of 4:21.04.
In the 200 individual medley, Tech was unable to pick up the win, but took all the spots from second to fifth. Brandon Fiala finished second with a time of 1:47.55.
To close out the evening, Tech’s 400 medley relay team finished second with a time of 3:12.06 with Collin Higgins, Brandon Fiala, Morgan Latimer and Owen Burns.
The fall invitational event will continue tomorrow, with preliminaries beginning at 10 a.m. and finals beginning at 6 p.m. Live results will be available online and a live video stream of the evening finals can be found on HokiesXtra.