Washington U. Swimming and Diving Teams Edged by Saint Louis University
RESULTS | SHIVELY INTERVIEW
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St. Louis, Mo., October 9, 2010 — Competing in their first dual meets of the 2010-11 season, the Washington University in St. Louis men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams both fell to NCAA Division I Saint Louis University on Saturday, Oct. 9, at the Millstone Pool in St. Louis, Mo.
Both contests were very close, with the SLU men edging out Washington University, 124-118, and the Billiken women’s team picking up a 124-115 victory. Both the Washington University men’s and women’s squads captured first place in six of the 13 events and swept the top spot in four races.
Senior David Chao highlighted action for the WUSTL men’s team, finishing first in a pair of freestyle races and the 400-medley relay. Chao won the 50-yard freestyle (21.72) and the 100-yard freestyle (48.10), and joined freshman Jason Wan, freshman Brian Carpenter and senior Michael Flanagan for the 400-medley relay victory (3:34.77).
The Washington University women’s team also picked up a first-place finish in the 400-medley relay, where junior Karina Stridh, freshman Chi Pham, sophomore Meghan Powers and freshman Allison Siegel turned in a time of 4:03.13, edging SLU’s top unit by 0.67 seconds.
Pham added a second victory in the 100-yard freestyle, with a time of 54.35.
The Bears posted strong showings in the men’s and women’s 1,000-yard freestyle and 200-yard breaststroke races. Freshman Grace Murray won the women’s 1,000-freestyle (10:51.15) and junior Chris Valach finished first in the men’s 1,000 (10:05.40).
Junior Catherine Rafferty-Millett won the women’s 200-breaststroke with a mark of 2:34.11, and freshman Tyler Perez took the top spot in the men’s 200-breaststroke by finishing in 2:16.19.
Rounding out the first-place races for the WUSTL women, senior Karin Underwood won the 200-backstroke (2:13.69) and freshman Paige VanTassell won the 500-yard freestyle (2:34.11).
The men’s squad turned in a second relay victory, closing out the meet with a win in the 400-freestyle relay, where sophomore Brendan Morin, senior Kartik Anjur, Wan, and sophomore Mark Minowitz turned in a time of 3:12.83.
The Washington University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 30, when they face Centre College, DePauw University and Washington & Lee University in a quad meet in Louisville, Ky., beginning at 2 p.m. (ET).