The William & Mary swim teams head up to Newark, Del. this weekend for the annual CAA Pod Meet on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 3-4. The Tribe will take on its traditional opponents in the meet, host Delaware, UNCW, and the James Madison women's team. On Saturday, sessions will begin at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., while Sunday's third session will start at 10 a.m.
Scouting the Tribe Women
W&M started the 1-4 overall (0-1 CAA), with tough contests against East Carolina, Navy, Towson, and UMBC in addition to a win over Johns Hopkins. Freshman
Anna Kenna (Chantilly, Va.) leads the team with 82.5 points through the first five meets, and is tied for the lead in wins with five, alongside sophomore
Megan Bull (Hillsborough, N.J.). Bull leads the CAA in the 1,000 free, thanks to her dual-meet record 10:10.97 against East Carolina. Senior
Annie Miller (Houston, Texas) is close behind with four wins, all coming in the 50 free against Navy, Towson, Hopkins, and UMBC in the space of 24 hours two weeks ago.
Scouting the Tribe Men
The W&M men are 3-2 to start the season and 1-0 in the CAA, picking up wins over Towson, Johns Hopkins, and UMBC after losing close contests to East Carolina and Navy in the first two meets. The meets against Towson and UMBC two weeks ago both came down to the final relay, which is a source of significant strength for the Tribe who ranks first in the league in every relay this season and has won the 200 free relay three years in a row and the 400 free relay four years in a row at the CAA Championships. Individually,
Colin Wright (Williamsburg, Va.) leads the team in points (109.5) and wins (10), undefeated so far on the season. Fellow junior
Chris Balbo (Short Hills, N.J.) is close behind with 99 points and nine wins, and leads the CAA in both the 500 free and the 1,000 free this season.
Scouting the Blue Hens
The Delaware men are 0-3 on the year with losses to Johns Hopkins, UMBC, and George Mason, while the women's team is 1-2 with a win over the Blue Jays. Senior Mina Feyrer ranks first in the CAA in the 200 fly and second in the 100 fly after first month of the season, and freshman Taylor Dragnosky is fourth in the league in the 200 breast. On the men's side, Delaware is traditionally strong in the distance events, where Kevin Bausch is third in the 1000 free and Bryce Ciecko is fourth in the 500 free.
Scouting the Seahawks
The UNCW men's team is 1-1 overall, beating Old Dominion and losing to East Carolina, and the Seahawks women are 0-2 against those two opponents. Faith Pilcher is UNCW's top-rated swimmer in the CAA rankings, fourth in the 50 free so far this season. For the men, Will Countie leads the CAA in the 100 back and ranks 2nd in the 200 back, and Sean Cannon and Jack Cosgrove each have a third and a fifth-place ranking in the sprint freestyles.
Scouting the Dukes
James Madison is the defending CAA Champions, and are a strong 3-1 (1-0) to begin this season with wins over Towson, Georgetown, and Duquesne, and a narrow loss to Liberty in their last appearance. The Dukes are all over the CAA leaderboards in the first month of action, led by Bonnie Zhang (1st in the league in the 100 and 200 free and second in the 200 back), and by Paige Assaid who is tops in the 100 back, third in the 200 back, and second in the 200 IM. James Madison also has the top time this season in both the 200 and 400 free relays, and rank second in the 200 medley relay.
The Series
- The W&M women are 14-2 all-time against Delaware, and have won each of the last two meetings. The last time the pod meet was in Newark, however, the Blue Hens took a 16-point win.
- The series with James Madison is one of the longest in W&M history, and will be swum for the 50th time this weekend. The Dukes hold a slim 25-23-1 lead, winning eight in a row after W&M had won the seven previous meetings. Last year, however, it was only a 13-point win for JMU, the closest meet since 2006.
- Likewise, W&M trails the all-time series against UNCW by just two, 16-14, but has won the last five in a row and seven of the last eight. Last year in Wilmington, the Tribe scrapped to a five-point win.
- On the men's side, The Tribe leads the series with Delaware 13-9, dating back to 1928. The last seven in a row have gone to W&M.
- The W&M men trail the series with UNCW, 7-27, but have won the last four in a row including by 61 points a year ago in Wilmington.
