From Washington University Athletics
Nine All-America finishes and two school records highlighted the final day of the 2015 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships for the Washington University in St. Louis swimming & diving teams Saturday. The WashU men finished sixth in the team standings, while the women's team finished eighth.
It marked just the fourth time in school history that both teams have posted top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships in the same year. The men's sixth-place team finished equaled the highest finish in school history to go with a sixth-place finish by the Bears in 2006. It was the men's seventh top-10 finish in WashU history, while the women finished in the top-10 for the seventh time in program history.
Sophomore Michael Lagieski posted the highest finish for WashU on the final day Saturday. He broke the six-year-old school record to place third in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 1:59.80. The time bettered the previous school record of 1:59.86 set in 2009 by Alex Beyer. It marked Lagieski's second All-America finish in as many years in the event, after he finished tied for 10th a year ago.
The women's 400-free relay team of senior Sara Taege, junior Kristalyn McAfee, freshman Niamh O'Grady and sophomore MariMac Collinsalso broke a school record during Saturday's competition. They clocked a time of 3:25.11 in the prelims to set a new WashU standard, before finishing sixth in the championship final with a time of 3:25.52. In the final, Taege also posted a career-best 100-free time of 51.67.
Senior Zane Turpin earned the fourth All-America honor of his career in the men's 1,650 free, placing sixth in a season-best time of 15:35.98. He placed 11th in the event in 2012, sixth in 2013 and seventh in 2014. Sophomore Andrew Ellison clocked a career-best time of 15:48.71 to place 10th for his first career All-America honorable mention finish. Freshman Nicole Zanolli raced to All-America honorable mention accolades in the women's 1,650 free with a season-best time of 17:12.02.
The men's 400-free relay team of freshman Ross Brown, junior Reed Dalton, senior Matt Nutter and sophomore Justin Morrell finished the meet for WashU by placing seventh with a time of 3:01.07. They clocked a time of 3:00.49 in the prelims, which was more than a second better than their previous season-best in the event. Nutter also raced in the 200 backstroke Saturday, finishing 29th in a season-best time of 1:52.47.
Morrell and junior Katie Anderson each earned the first individual All-America honors of their careers Saturday. Morrell finished 16th in the men's 100 free in a time of 45.33, while Anderson placed 15th in the women's 200 backstroke in 2:02.42. She clocked a season-best time of 2:02.31 in the prelims of the event Saturday morning.
McAfee accounted for WashU's other All-America finish of the day. She swam a career-best time of 51.19 to tie for 13th in the women's 100 free, earning All-America honorable mention for the second time in her career. Collins had a season-best time of 51.82 to finish tied for 27thin the event. Taege and O'Grady tied for 32nd in 51.98, and sophomore Claire Savage finished 38th in 52.37.
Overall, the WashU men's and women's teams combined for 23 All-America and All-America honorable mention awards in 22 events at the 2015 NCAA Championships. They also set nine school records at the four-day meet. Dalton finished with All-America honors in all six events in which he competed at the meet, while Taege, McAfee and Morrell earned All-America finishes in five events each. Taege completed her career with 16 All-America finishes, while Nutter had seven and Turpin had six as their careers came to a close at the meet.