From Washington University Athletics
The Washington University in St. Louis men's and women's swimming teams combined for three All-America finishes and two school records on the third day of the 2015 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships Friday at the CISD Natatorium.
Entering the final day of competition, the WashU men are ninth in the team standings with 106 points, while the WashU women are also ninth with 86 points.
The women's 800-free relay team of senior Sara Taege, junior Kristalyn McAfee, sophomore MariMac Collins and freshman Niamh O'Gradyequaled the second-highest relay finish in school history by racing to third place in a record-setting time. Taege led off with a career-best split of 1:50.00, and McAfee gave the Bears the lead midway through the race. Collins and O'Grady each took more than a second off their best 200-free splits as WashU broke the school record by more than five seconds with a time of 7:20.35.
Sophomore Michael Lagieski missed his own school record in the 100 butterfly by just one-hundredth of a second, finishing as the national runner-up with a season-best time of 54.11. It was the second straight All-America finish in the event for Lagieski, who won the 2014 national championship with a then-national record time of 54.10.
Coming off his national championship in the 100 butterfly Thursday, junior Reed Dalton had another record-setting day for the Bears Friday. He broke the 200 butterfly school record by more than 1.5 seconds with a time of 1:48.59 in the prelims Friday morning to earn a spot in the championship final. In that final, Dalton took another .52 of a second off the record, placing sixth in a time of 1:48.07 for his first career All-America honor in the 200 butterfly.
The men's 800-free relay team of sophomore Justin Morrell, senior Matt Nutter, sophomore Andrew Ellison and freshman Ross Brown just missed out on All-America honorable mention honors, finishing 17th overall in a time of 6:48.12. Junior Amanda Stadermann was the only other individual to compete for WashU Friday. She finished 20th in the women's 200 butterfly with a time of 2:05.40.
Twelve individuals and two relays are scheduled to compete for WashU on the final day of competition Saturday. Collins, McAfee, O'Grady, Taege and sophomore Claire Savage will all swim in the 100 free for the WashU women, while Morrell will race in the men's 100 free. JuniorKatie Anderson and Nutter will compete in the women's and men's 200 backstroke events, while Lagieski is set to compete in the 200 breaststroke. Freshman Nicole Zanolli, Ellison and senior Zane Turpin will look for All-America honors in the women's and men's 1,650 free events. In addition, the men's and women's 400-free relays will both be in action.