The William & Mary women's swimming team open the Colonial Athletic Association Championships in strong fashion on Wednesday night, taking silver in both relay events and setting both a school record and freshman record in the process. The Tribe is tied for the lead after two events with 68 points, alongside Drexel and reigning champions James Madison, with Towson close behind with 64 points. UNCW is fifth after the first night with 56 points, with Northeastern (54) and Delaware (50) rounding out the field.
200 Medley Relay
The first event of the week was the 200 medley relay, and freshman
Anna Kenna (Chantilly, Va.) set the tone for the Tribe by swimming a freshman-record 25.65 on the lead-off 50 back split. That broke the rookie record set by
Sophie Rittenhouse '17 back in 2014, and put W&M in second overall heading into the breaststroke leg. That was handled by another freshman
Ellie Henry (Chantilly, Va.), with a split of 28.12, and senior
Katie Sell (Fredericksburg, Va.) dove in to start the fly leg in third place. She blitzed the fastest split of the field, 24.34, and handed off to classmate
Annie Miller (Houston, Texas) a second behind the leaders from Drexel. Miller was able to make up nine-tenths of that lead, blazing to a 22.39 split, and brought the Tribe home in 1:40.50 for second overall. That was the third-fastest race in school history, just 0.07 off the record.
800 Free Relay
Following the diving break, W&M was back in action in the 800 free relay. Sophomore
Megan Bull (Hillsborough, N.J.) took it out fast and kept getting faster, coming into the wall and handing off in the lead at 1:46.89. That was an NCAA provisional qualifier and a lifetime-best for Bull, who shattered the school record of 1:47.21, set by
Katie Radloff '10 at the 2009 CAA Championships. That's also the fourth-fastest time in CAA history for any athlete, and the fastest since Towson's Macey Arnold set the meet record of 1:46.43 back in 2015. Sophomore
Tara Tiernan (West Hartford, Conn.) was next up, splitting 1:50.12, and kept the Tribe in the lead before handing off to senior
Morgan Smith (Verona, N.J.) for the third leg. Smith went 1:49.74, and her classmate
Maria Oceguera (New Rochelle, N.Y.) hit the water for the anchor leg. Oceguera split a strong 1:49 flat, bringing W&M home in second overall in 7:15.45. That was the fourth-fastest race in school history.
The CAA Championships continue on Thursday, with prelims in the 500 free, 200 IM, and 50 free starting at 10 a.m. Every session of the championships this week are being streamed live and for free on CAA.TV.
2019 Colonial Athletic Association Women's Swimming & Diving Championships
Team Standings (2 of 20 events scored)
T1. William & Mary 68
T1. James Madison 68
T1. Drexel 68
4. Towson 64
5. UNCW 56
6. Northeastern 54
7. Delaware 50
