Men’s, women’s swimming

The men’s and women’s swimming teams hosted UMBC for their first dual meet of the season this weekend. The men’s team fell 148-99 to the Retrievers and the women’s team also dropped their meet, falling 138-119.

Junior Caroline Myers was the top performer on the women’s side, finishing in first place in the 200-, 500- and 1,000-yard freestyle and the 400-yard freestyle relay events. She joined with freshmen Riley LeBlanc and Madison Reinker to take home first, second and fourth in the 1,000-yard free, with Myers touching the wall in 10:27.70, followed by LeBlanc in 10:33.47 and Reinker in 10:47.36.

In the 200-yard free, freshman Kally Vanderbilt took third, followed by junior Melissa Fernandez in fourth. LeBlanc took second again in the 500-yard free. The Colonials took 13 more top-three finishes to complete the race, including earning first and second place finishes in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

On the men’s side, UMBC took 11 events, remaining undefeated on the season, while the Colonials were only able to win three races on the day.

Freshman Oliver Keegan took first in the 100-yard butterfly, followed by senior Alex Etz, who finished second. Senior Phillip Graeter, junior Jake Mortensen and sophomore Garrett Cottingham took the top three slots in the 200-yard individual medley, and GW’s 400-yard freestyle relay team of Keegan, Graeter, senior Stephen Nelson and freshman Jordan Sharples took first. GW took home 10 more top-three finishes on the day.

The Colonials next host Drexel Nov. 3.

Men’s, women’s cross country

The men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the Atlantic 10 championships this weekend, with the men placing 13th of 16 and the women placing 10th of 16 overall.

In both the men’s and women’s competitions, Butler, one of the A-10’s newest members, took the top prize on the course at Belmont Plateau in Fairmount Park in Philadelphia. The course consisted of two and a half loops around the park, including a segment through a hilly, wooded area that forced runners to navigate tight turns and uneven terrain.

Junior Jackson Carnes and senior Alex Dadds led the men’s cross country team, finishing a second apart. Carnes crossed the finish line in 27:02.2, finishing 56th of 136 runners, while Dadds followed at 27:03.8 to finish 57th. Freshman Ryan Tucker was next for GW, finishing in 27:06.2 to end in 60th place.

The women’s team was paced by senior Heather Stevens, who earned All-Conference honors by placing 15th out of 140 runners, navigating the 5,000-meter course in 18:21.2. Stevens’ time set a new 5K personal record by 50 seconds, and she helped the women’s team to its best finish at the conference championship since the 2009 season.

Next across the line for the Colonials were fellow seniors Juliana Stern, who ran the course in 19:00.1 to finish in 45th, and Julia Weir, who completed the race in 19:07.2 to finish in 52nd.

GW entered the competition ranked No. 15 in the most recent United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Mid-Atlantic Regional poll, the first-ever regional ranking in program history.