The William and Mary men's swimming team earned its best finish in over a decade Saturday night at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships, placing third with 549 points.  It is the highest finish for the Tribe since taking third in 2001, and is just the third top-three finish ever in the CAA (also second in 1999).  UNCW won the championship with 683 points.

For the three-day meet, the Tribe broke 17 school records, nine freshman records, and swam eight NCAA-qualifying performances.  Out of 19 swimming events, 14 had their records re-written during the course of the championships.

1650 Free
The Tribe's evening began in the 1650 free, where freshman Kemp Pettyjohn (Lynchburg, Va.) earned his second silver medal of the meet, timing 15:20.98 for second place and All-CAA honors.  Pettyjohn's performance broke the school record by 10 seconds, and also met the NCAA provisional qualifying standard.  Pettyjohn also broke the school record at 1000 free en route, making the turn in 9:16.12.

Also in the mile, freshman Lukas Dempsey (New Paltz, N.Y.) placed seventh overall, touching the wall in 15:47.14.  Dempsey now ranks fourth in school history in the event, and ranks third at 1,000 free (9:28.14).  Senior Luke Robbins (Charlottesville, Va.) won his heat in a lifetime-best 15:54.47, placing 14th overall.  Robbins now ranks sixth in school history, and also ranks sixth in the 1000 free at 9:35.65.

Junior Kyle McVeigh (Jacksonville, Fla.) was 15th overall in 15:55.62, and sophomore Tyler Poling (Morristown, N.J.) had a lifetime-best 15:56.20 for 16th.  Poling also had a lifetime best in the 1000 en route, turning in 9:39.78, and now ranks ninth all-time at 1000 yards and seventh all-time in the 1,650 free.

200 Back
In the 200 back, junior Evan Rutherford (Newport News, Va.) swam a lifetime-best 1:49.00, improving two spots over his seed to finish sixth overall.  Rutherford now ranks second all-time at W&M in the event.  Junior Sidney Glass (Mechanicsville, Va.) won the consolation finals, sprinting down the lane in 1:49.58.

100 Free
Senior Stephen Fay (Herndon, Va.) tied his lifetime-best in the 100 free, placing eighth in the championship finals with a time of 45.34.  Fay is the third-ranked swimmer in school history.  Junior Hunter Perrot (Falls Church, Va.) was fifth in the consolations, 13th overall, in a time of 45.94 seconds.

200 Breast
In the 200 breast, sophomore Andrew Strait (Henrico, Va.) earned his second silver medal of the meet with a lifetime-best and school-record time of 2:00.22.  Also in the championship heat, freshman Matt Goetz (Islip, N.Y.) placed seventh overall in 2:04.80.  Classmate Chris Dong (Chapel Hill, N.C.) broke Strait's freshman record from last year in the consolation finals, timing 2:04.16 for 10th overall.  Freshman Carter Head (Lynchburg, Va.) gave the Tribe four scorers, placing 15th overall in 2:06.99.

200 Fly
Junior K.J. Shaw (Richmond, Va.) earned the bronze medal and attendant all-conference honors in the 200 fly, touching the wall in 1:48.34 for third place.  Senior Evan Mulloy (Martinez, Ga.) was eighth overall in 1:53.24.

400 Free Relay
The weekend's final event was the 400 free relay, where the Tribe's team of Stephen Fay, Andrew Strait, Ben Ward (Maitland, Fla.), and Hunter Perrot placed fourth in 3:01.56.  The time, the third-best ever swum by W&M, was also the eighth NCAA-qualifying performance of the weekend.

Team Standings
1. UNCW 683
2. George Mason 626
3. William and Mary 549
4. Old Dominion 515
5. Delaware 422
6. Drexel 287
7. Towson 269