By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
 
In the 2020 CAA Swimming and Diving Championships, then-freshman Annie Tuttle finished sixth in the 100 breaststroke and didn't make finals in the 200. A year later, she won both with school-record times.
 
Which begs the question: In that span, with the pandemic creating uncertainty and limiting opportunities to train, how did she improve so much?
 
"When I went into break back home, I remember Kelley Crisci, one of our assistant coaches, calling to check in," said Tuttle, now a sophomore at William & Mary. "We still didn't know anything about the season and she was saying, 'Whatever happens, don't put any pressure on yourself. Just go in to have fun.'
 
"That conversation changed my whole dynamic and outlook because it's so easy to put pressure on yourself. I started having fun in practice again — like, dancing in the pool and singing. When my mind is not focused my expectations for myself, I do better."
 
Way better. In the 100, Tuttle swam 1:01.61 in the prelims to break the school record. In the finals, she finished first at 1:01.70.
 
Then came the 200, where Tuttle really surprised herself. She set a lifetime best in the prelims at 2:15.92. Then she broke that by more than a second and a half at 2:14.25 in the finals.
 
"I didn't expect to do that," Tuttle said. "I had a feeling I was going to do well, but I honestly had no expectations for place."
 
Tuttle also finished fourth in the 200 IM and swam on two relay winners—the 400 medley and 200 medley.
 
Also winning individual championships were Anna Kenna in the 100 backstroke (54.77) and Elizabeth Intihar the 500 freestyle (4:48).
 
W&M won four of the five relay events —200 freestyle (Missy Cundiff, Katie Stevenson, Kenna, Megan Bull), 400 medley (Kenna, Tuttle, Maura Graff, Stevenson), 200 medley (Kenna, Tuttle, Corinne Davenport, Cundiff), and 800 freestyle (Stevenson, Bull, Intihar, Tara Tiernan).
 
As a team, W&M finished second behind James Madison.
 
"Our relays were awesome, and coming in we knew that would be a big emphasis for us," W&M coach Nate Kellogg said. "We just wanted to get as many points as we could, and those relays really came through for us. Our women did just about everything they could to try to win a championship."
 
Men's gymnastics takes second in ECAC
Friday morning, Mike Powell's gymnasts were to hit the road for West Point, New York, for the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships. That is, if they were cleared for departure on Thursday night.
 
They were, and in its first road trip of the season, the Tribe finished second to heavily favored Navy. Nine W&M gymnasts earned a combined 14 all-conference awards for top-six performances.
 
Andrew Lyubovsky, Ian Creelman, Christian Marsh, Aidan Cuy and Alek Kuzmenchuk each were named all-conference in two events. Carter Fugett, Collin Lillie, Jordan Kula and Sam Lee also were honored.
 
"Basically, we compete in 30 routines, and 14 of them were all-conference," Powell said. "That gives you some idea the way these guys came to do everything they could to position ourselves for NCAA qualification."
 
Also, four of the five individual awards went to W&M —Rookie of the Year (Lee), Most Improved (Kula), Assistant Coach of the Year (Bo Morris), and Coach of the Year (Powell).
 
Baseball takes two of three from Richmond
After his team blew a two-run lead and lost on a walk-off in the first game of a double-header Sunday afternoon, W&M coach Brian Murphy might have wondered how his team would respond. No need: The Tribe answered with a 10-6 win to clinch a series win over Richmond.
 
Leadoff man Ben Williamson was 6-for-12 in the series and extended his hitting streak to 14 games. He and Jake Cone (.364) have been carrying the offense, but other hitters have started to heat up.
 
Shortstop Matt McDermott is on a six-game hitting streak during which he is 8-for-26 (.307). Catcher Matt Trehub is 6-for-15 in his last four games. And right fielder Matt Thomas went 5-for-12 with a home run in the Richmond series to raise his batting average from .167 to .215.
 
W&M (6-13) plays at Virginia Tuesday afternoon and then heads to Elon for a three-game set over the weekend.
 
Colonial Relays recap
Men's track finished fourth out of 12 teams in the Colonial Relays. Individual winners included Theo Chambers in the 200 meters (21.65), Michael Fairbanks in the pole vault (a meet-record 5.16m, 16-11), Daniel Layton in the 110 hurdles (14.95) and Jared O'Riley in the javelin (62-11m, 203-9).
 
Chris Rosales, Chambers, Colin Grip and Joshua Shackelford teamed to win the 4x400 relay at 3:18.78. It was the Tribe's first win in that event at the inaugural Colonial Relays since 1963.
 
The women got wins from Amaya Johnson in the 100 with a school-record time of 12.06, Makenzie Joiner in the 400 hurdles and Kyra Holland in the 5,000. The 4x400 relay team of Josie Landis, Grace Bir, Mary Gregory and Joiner took first at 3:48.02, the third-fastest time in program history.