H2Okies have strong opening day at Purdue Invite

Men second, women fourth heading into day two

November 16, 2017

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Virginia Tech men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams have strong opening day on Thursday at the Purdue Invitational in West Lafayette, Indiana.

After the opening day of competition the women’s team standings are as follows: Indiana – 258; Florida – 235; Purdue – 143; Virginia Tech – 113; FIU – 88; Missouri State – 63; SIU – 47; UNC (divers) – 26. On the men’s side: Florida – 300; Virginia Tech – 188; Indiana – 163; Purdue – 109; Missouri State – 104; SIU – 59; UNC (divers) – 49; Navy – 28.

“Solid first day for the Hokies,” said head coach Ned Skinner. “The divers were great. We had elite wins from Ashlynn [Peters] and Ian [Ho] tonight. We need to take more pride in our medley relays and learn from those early take-offs. We are in a good position to have a strong meet.”

Ashlynn Peters had the top finish for the women’s team, winning the 3-meter with a score of 305.65.

Tech opened the evening finals with a fourth place finish in the women’s 200 free relay as Joelle Vereb, Adriana Grabski, Maggie Gruber and Danielle Griggs turned in a time of 1:30.93.

In the 500 free, Eleanor Matheson and Grace Kowal both turned in NCAA B times. Matheson finished in 4:47.20 to finish 11th while Kowal won her heat in a time of 4:46.65.

Reka Gyorgy took second in the 200IM with a B time of 1:57.11 while Emily Meilus had a B time of 2:01.99 to finish 11th in the event.

Grabski competed in the A heat to finish sixth in 23.02 while Gruber had a 22.87 to record an NCAA B time and finish first in the B heat.

Tech was disqualified in the women’s 400 medley relay.

Ian Ho led the men’s side with his top finish in the 50 free in a pace of 19.64 for an NCAA B time. The Hokies were strong in the event as Thomas Hallock was eighth in the A heat (20.36). Harrison Pierce led the B heat with an NCAA time of 20.05.

The H₂Okies men kicked off the evening’s finals with a second place finish in the 200 free relay with Ho, Thomas Hallock, Jake Lamparella and David Herbert recording a time of 1:18.69.

Lane Stone claimed sixth in the 500 free with an NCAA B time of 4:22.51. The Hokies followed up with the 200IM where Norbert Szabo had an 11th place finish with a B time of 1:47.24. His teammate Samuel Tornqvist also had a B time, finishing 17th in 1:48.02.

Tech had another solid relay event as Lamparella, Ho, Pierce and Justin Edwards finished fifth in the
400 medley relay in 3:15.43.

Tech claimed third in the 1-meter diving as Ben Shiesl recorded a score of 368.25. Thomas Shinholser finished just behind him in fourth with a score of 335.95.

The Hokies will be back in the pool tomorrow with the second day of the Purdue Invitational. Prelims will begin at 10 a.m. with finals in the evening at 6 p.m.

For updates on Virginia Tech swimming & diving, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @HokiesSwimDive