February 9, 2013
H2Okies dominate on day one of the Virginia Tech Invitational
Tech wins nine of the 14 events
F
USA Championships
Virginia Tech
CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. – The Virginia Tech swimming and diving kicked off the first day of the annual Virginia Tech Invitational Saturday evening as the H2Okies welcomed the UNC Wilmington Seahawks and the Towson Tigers to the Christiansburg Aquatic Center.

Gabrielle Bishop started things off for the H2Okies, swimming her first B standard time of the season. The freshman came in at the 1:47.90 mark, a second faster than her preliminary time to set a qualifying standard.

Mackenzie Stewart picked up right where she left off from this morning in the 100 breaststroke. Although swimming faster in the morning session, the freshman took a time of 1:01.89 in the finals to collect her second B standard time of the day.

Junior Caroline Higgins shined in the 100 backstroke, as she touched the wall at the 55.01 mark for her first career B standard time.

Other event winners of the night for the women were Katie Gillespie winning the 100 butterfly with a time of 55.70 and Natalee Roseberry took the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.86.

On the men side, Kevin Hunt started the day off for Tech as he won the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:38.27. Senior Adam Skipper was the first H2Okie male to swim a B cut time tonight as he was the 100 breaststroke with a time of 54.67.

Freshman Drake Becksted was victorious in the 100 butterfly. He swam a time of 48.73 to win the event. Ben Munster capped off the night for Tech, as he swam a time of 4:33.06 to win the 500 freestyle.

Competition will start back up tomorrow with the preliminaries starting at 10 a.m., followed by the finals at 4 p.m.

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

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