Sports in Brief: Swimming travels to two weekend tri-meets

October 17, 2011

The Colonials competed in back-to-back tri-meets against District-rivals Catholic and American this weekend, with the women’s squad earning 27 top-three finishes and the men’s team earning 24.

Friday, sophomores Caroline Myers and Taylor Cole opened competition by claiming first and second place, respectively, in the 500-yard freestyle. Freshman Janica Lee earned a first-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley and sophomore Sydney Saunders claimed top honors in the 50-yard freestyle.

Freshman Morgan Zebley finished first in the 100-yard butterfly Saturday, and the Colonials swept the top three slots in both the 200-yard free and the 100-yard backstroke. Saunders took home top honors in the 100-yard free, followed by Lee’s first-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke, freshman Bianca Valencia’s first-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly and Myers’ victory in the 1,650-yard free.

Junior Niklas Glenesk opened Friday’s meet for the men’s squad with a first-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle, followed by junior Phillip Graeter’s top finish in the 200-yard individual medley, touching the wall two seconds before his closest competitor. The Colonials closed competition Friday by sweeping the top three spots in the 50-yard freestyle.

Graeter pushed GW to an early successful start again Saturday, finishing first in the 400-yard individual medley, and Glenesk nabbed top honors in the 200-yard free. Sophomore Spencer Neff finished first in the 1,650-yard free, and the Colonials closed competition with a sweep of 100-yard free.

GW next takes the pool for its first dual meet of the season at Bucknell Oct. 22.

Weir finishes fifth at Leopard Invitational

Junior Julia Weir posted her second consecutive top-ten finish Saturday, finishing fifth of 101 runners at the Leopard Invitational with a 22:05 time that was her fastest 5K time of the season.

Propelled by Weir, the women’s squad finished 10th of 12 teams, while the men’s team finished 12th of 13.

Junior Heather Stevens was the next to follow Weir across the line, finishing 27th in 22:57. Freshmen Paige Peltan and Kathryn Luker were the next to finish for the Colonials, ending 53rd and 57th, respectively.

Sophomore James Stern was the top finisher for the men’s team, finishing the 8K in 28:42, 60th of 111 runners. Freshman Tyler Gillies and sophomore Marco Siragusa rounded out the top three, finishing 61st and 62nd, respectively.

The Colonials next head to the Atlantic 10 Championships Oct. 29 in Charlotte, N.C.