WILLIAMSBURG, VA.- The William & Mary swimming programs leap off the starting blocks for the first time on Saturday afternoon, as the two teams visit Johns Hopkins for a dual meet Saturday afternoon. The meet will begin at 2:00 p.m. at the Newton White Athletic Center.
The Green and Gold will be facing Johns Hopkins teams that have already participated in double-dual meets this season. The Blue Jays men's side defeated UMBC on October 2 while narrowly losing to Delaware. The women's team dropped decisions to the Retrievers and Blue Hens. Both Johns Hopkins teams will face Navy and Drexel in a double-dual this Friday before hosting the Tribe.
Preview of the women's season.
Scouting the Tribe Women
Expectations are high for a William & Mary women's team that returns nine of last season's top-ten point scorers and a handful of individual CAA Championship first place finishers. Senior
Anna Kenna is back in the lineup for the Tribe looking to defend her gold medal finish in the 100 back in the CAA Championship Meet.
Elizabeth Intihar brought home a pair of first place finishes for the Tribe at last season's conference meet taking home gold in the 500 free and helping W&M finish first in the 800 free relay.
Katie Stevenson scored the second most points for the Green and Gold last season and was instrumental in bringing home first place in the 200 free, 800 free, and 400 medley relays.
Annie Tuttle is coming off a monster junior campaign that saw the Alexandria native sweep the 100 and 200 breaststroke events at the CAA Meet and swam the breaststroke leg of the 400 medley relay winning squad.
Missy Cundiff helped lead the Tribe to a conference championship in the 200 free and 200 medley relays and will be looking to improve on a second place finish in the 50 free. Overall, 18 athletes from last season's team are joined by eight newcomers to round out the roster.
Preview of the men's season.
Scouting the Tribe Men
The men's team has a deep and talented roster that is poised to make a step toward regaining a spot at the top of the CAA standings. Eight of last season's top-ten point scorers for the Tribe return including top man
Graham Hertweck. Hertweck finished second in the 100 free at the CAA Championships swimming a lifetime best 43.84 and helped the team to a second place CAA finish in the 4x100 free relay. Junior
John O'Hara had a dual meet win last season and helped the team to a third place CAA finish in the 4x200 free relay in addition to finishing fifth in the 200 free.
Kyle Demers is back for the Tribe after swimming a lifetime best 2:01.89 in the 200 breaststroke at the CAA Championships last season. The junior had a pair of dual wins on the year in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Distance swimmer
Owen Miller had a pair of dual wins last year in the 500 and 1,650 free and finished 12th in the 200 free at the CAA Meet. Butterfly specialist Owen Fields will look to improve on an impressive third place finish in the 200 fly at last season's conference meet in which he swam a lifetime best 1:47.28. Overall, the men return 16 swimmers from last year's team and welcome four freshmen to the lineup.
From Coach Nate Kellogg
"We are eager to begin this season at Johns Hopkins. Our men and women have been working very hard and we are looking forward to seeing how our team performs and get a sense of where we are. We know Johns Hopkins will be tough at home and are excited for the challenge."
