The William & Mary swimming teams welcome Davidson to the Rec Center Natatorium on Saturday at noon, looking to extend winning streaks to three for both the men and the women. Saturday's 12 p.m. match-up will also be the final appearance at home for 14 Tribe seniors, looking for their second undefeated home slate in the last three years. Fans can follow along with live stats both on TribeAthletics.com, and through the Meet Mobile app on Apple and Android devices.
Scouting the Tribe WomenW&M is 5-3 (2-2 CAA) on the year after cruising at George Washington last weekend, where the Tribe didn't look beaten up coming off the training trip as some might have expected. Senior
Jessie Ustjanauskas (West Hartford, Conn.) dominated in the 200 free and the 100 fly, breaking W&M's dual-meet record in that event by a full quarter-second at 55.57. Juniors
Jaimie Miller (Houston, Texas) and
Sophie Rittenhouse (London, England) have also been strong all year long, Miller in the sprint freestyles and Rittenhouse holding down the backstrokes. Freshman
Maria Oceguera (New Rochelle, N.Y.) is coming on strong in the distance events, where she set the freshman record in the mile at Bucknell and came very close to the records in the 500 and 1000 free as well.
Scouting the Tribe MenThe Green and Gold men also downed GW on the road, improving to 6-1 overall, and also went undefeated in CAA play for the second time in three years with a 3-0 record.
The senior trio of
Will Manion (Haddonfield, N.J.),
Jeremiah O'Donnell (Chapel Hill, N.C.), and
Billy Russell (Newport News, Va.) have separated themselves in the top tier of CAA swimmers this season, with all three being threats to win five or more conference titles. Sophomore
Tommy Kealy (Wilton, Conn.) has also been swimming very well, in the 200 fly and distance free events.
Scouting the WildcatsDavidson enters the meet at 2-3 for the women and 1-2 for the men, with a sweep of Georgetown and a win over the ODU women. Junior Elise Lankiewicz is one of the top swimmers in the Atlantic 10, sweeping the 100, 200, and 500 free last year as well as turning in a 16:34 mile this fall. Breaststroker Katy Williams is also favored in her two events. On the men's side, distance man Henry Resweber and sprinter/backstroker Luke Burton are the top threats.
News and Notes- The Tribe women lead the series with the Wildcats 18-2 all-time, and have never lost in Williamsburg. That includes a nine-meet active winning streak, dating back to the 2004-05 season.
- On the men's side, W&M also dominates the all-time series, 27-5-1 over Davidson. The Wildcats only wins in Williamsburg were in 1979 and 1994, but Davidson did win at home in 2011 in the midst of a 5-1 Tribe streak.
- The women's senior class has led W&M to a 25-18 overall record and 10-5 at home, matching the best four-year home record since 1991. Ustjanauskas,
Noelle Klockner (Marlboro, N.J.),
Jenny Lomicka (Henrico, Va.),
Elena Marsilii (Falls Church, Va.),
Courtney Mizerak (Manassas, Va.), and
Hannah Vester (Cincinnati, Ohio) have also led the Tribe to three-straight bronze medals at the CAA Championships, and in contention for the conference title this season.
- On the men's side, the Tribe has gone 26-9 over the past four years and 11-2 at home, both the best marks for any W&M senior class since 1973. The Tribe has also been 10-3 in conference play, the best four-year record since 1976, and won its first-ever conference championship last winter. In addition to Manion, Russell, and O'Donnell, the class includes
Justin Barden (Gordonsville, Va.),
Austin Glass (Mechanicsville, Va.),
Ryan Natal (Great Falls, Va.),
Andrew Nyce (Vienna, Va.), and undergraduate assistant
Ian Robert (New Canaan, Conn.).
- Russell (12), Manion (14), and O'Donnell (14) are all within striking distance of reaching 20 wins this season, a feat that has only been achieved a total of seven times in the last quarter-century. The last time multiple swimmers in the same season reached 20 wins was 1998-99, when W&M swam 16 dual meets as well as a pair of championship meets to allow
Chris Robinson '00 to win 33 times and
Mike Lovett '00 to reach 27 victories.
- This season could also be the year that a Tribe swimmer breaks 400 points again. All three seniors (Russell currently 278.75, Manion 285.25, O'Donnell 275.25) have a shot at the milestone that only Robinson (twice) and Lovett have so far achieved.
- On the career lists, Manion is fourth all-time with 63 victories, just 14 away from former teammate
Andrew Strait '14 and the top three. Robinson has the most victories all-time with 100 for the Tribe, while All-American diver
Shawn McLane '85 has 80.
- O'Donnell is currently eighth all-time with 42 victories, three ahead of Russell who stands ninth.
- Manion is currently third all-time with 1,214 career points, and is only 87 points away from overtaking Strait for second all-time behind Robinson's 1,469.5 points.
- Speaking of points, Russell enters the week with 969 career points, and is charging to become the sixth 1,000-point scorer in school history. O'Donnell is also on the cusp, just 137 points away, and provided they both make it (along with Manion) it would be the first time in school history that three classmates all hit 1,000 points.
- On the women's side of the ledger, both Ustjanauskas (214 points currently) and junior
Jaimie Miller (Houston, Texas) with 218 are in position to crack the all-time top-16 for single-season points. The two are roughly 125 points behind the cutoff with four dual meets, CAAs, and the Carolina College Cup still to go.
- Ustjanuaskas is also closing in on a career milestone with 889.25 points, just 111 away from becoming the 10th woman over 1,000 points in the last 25 years. Miller is a bit further back, 187 points from 1,000, but also has another year after this one.
- The duo as well as Rittenhouse are close to appearing on the wins lists also. Ustjanuaskas has 12 wins already this season, while 17 is needed to make the single-season list. She is also 16th on the career list, with 29 victories already. Rittenhouse is just behind with 26, and Miller closing fast with 24 wins.