Women's Swimming & Diving Wins WUSTL Invitational; Men Third
RESULTS
St. Louis, Mo., January 15, 2011 — The Washington University in St. Louis women’s swimming and diving team concluded its 2010-11 home slate with a first-place finish in the Washington University Invitational, held Friday-Saturday, Jan. 14-15, at the Millstone Pool in St. Louis, Mo. The WUSTL men’s team finished in third place.
With 12 first-place finishes in the two-day meet, the Washington University women’s squad tallied a score of 1,038 points, more than 200 points clear of second place DePauw University. The Bears’ men’s team won eight races for a team score of 725 points. NCAA Division II Missouri Science and Technology won the men’s title with 921 points.
A trio of freshman found themselves leading the Washington University women’s team to the win. Chi Pham and Allison Siegel each finished first in five different races between individual and relay events while Paige VanTassell finished first in four races.
Pham won the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:10.54 and the 100-yard backstroke in 1:00.02, Siegel finished first in the 100-yard freestyle (55.02) and the 50-yard freestyle (25.28), and VanTassell took the top spot in the 200-freestyle (2:00.02) and the 500-freestyle (5:15.83).
The Bears also won four relays, with Pham, Siegel or VanTassell having a part in each one. Pham, freshman Connie Shao, freshman Grace Murray and Siegel teamed up to win the 200-medley relay (1:50.40) and senior Karin Underwood, VanTassell, junior Amy Vanlishout and Murray came away with the win in the 800-free relay (8:06.06).
In the 200-freestyle relay, Pham, junior Karina Stridh, Vanlishout and Siegel finished first with a time of 1:40.03, and the Bears concluded the meet with a win by Pham, Vanlishout, VanTassell and Siegel in the 400-free relay (3:43.59).
Senior David Chao was dominant for the WUSTL men’s team just as he has been all season, winning three individual races and three relays. Chao turned in a time of 21.61 to capture the 50-yard freestyle, he won the 100-freestyle in 47.06, and the 200-freestyle and 1:45.36.
Senior Kartik Anjur, freshman Brian Carpenter, sophomore Brendan Morin and Chao teamed up to win the 200-medley relay (1:36.12) and sophomore Mark Minowitz, Anjur, freshman Jason Wan and Chao finished first in the 400-free relay (3:09.58). Anjur, junior Chris Valach, Wan and Chao represented the winning team in the 800-free relay with a time of 7:00.84.
Both Wan and Anjur added individual wins to their relay victories. Wan finished first in the 200-yard backstroke (1:59.56) while Anjur won the 100-yard backstroke (52.73).
Rounding out the first place finishers for the WUSTL women, Murray made it a freestyle sweep for the Bears, capturing the 1,650 free in 18:09.05 and freshman Meghan Lam won the 400-IM (4:41.93).
The Washington University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will return to action on Friday, Jan. 21, for a dual meet with Principia College scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in Elsah, Ill.