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CHRISTIANSBURG, VA. – The Virginia Tech H₂Okies hosted small squads from James Madison, Virginia Military Institute, Washington and Lee, UNC Wilmington and Georgia Tech this evening in the first session of the two-day Virginia Tech Invitational. Tech hopes to make this an annual event, thanks to the opening of the brand new Christiansburg Aquatic Center. On the first day of competition, the H₂Okies sit atop the standings, taking home 10 titles in 14 events. Tech won every event in which an H₂Okie swam in the finals.

“The environment today was awesome,” said head coach Ned Skinner. “The whole team came out in force to support those swimming, and having the cameras here and the excitement of the internet live stream is something that we are excited about for the future of our program. It was a great day.”

Rachel Sepanski opened the meet with a first-place finish in the 200 freestyle, swimming a 1:51.64. Caroline Higgins and Michael Hallock both won the 100 backstroke, swimming a 56.44 and 48.61, respectively. Sarah Ault and Alex Lutterbein took third and fourth in the event. Natalie Leake then earned a third title for the women, swimming the 100 breast in 1:04.83, while Nathan Hoisington led a H₂Okie sweep of the event with a time of 51.14, followed closely by Adam Skipper in second, Danny Loftus in third and Nick Tremols in fourth.

Sepanski then became the only H₂Okie to earn a second title, winning the 500 free in 5:00.30, while Ben Munster took home the same title for the men (4:38.77). Morgan Allen picked up the final gold medal for the women, winning the 50 with a time of 24.15, while Adam Skipper took home the gold for the men. Michael Hallock finished second in the men’s event and Sarah Ault finished third for the women.

The competition will wrap up tomorrow with the final five events for each team. The preliminary round will begin at 10 a.m. with the finals commencing at 4 p.m.

For updates on Virginia Tech swimming & diving, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_SwimDive).