The triumphs propelled the men to a 4-1 record for the season at their home facility, while the women finished 5-1 at War Memorial Pool. Both home losses came to Virginia on Oct 21.

Both squads opened the day with strong starts in the 400 medley relay, with the women taking the top-three spots and the men finishing one-two. The women posted a winning time of 3:53.93 and the men took first in 3:27.75. Both teams also concluded the meet with victories in the 200 freestyle relay.

Alexandra Tomasky grabbed a title in the longest event of the day, the 1,000 freestyle, in 10:20.03, while Griffin Lutterbein complimented a first-place finish for the men in 9:42.34. Caglar Gokbulut and Ben Munster took second and third, respectively, in the 1,000 free. Newcomer Katarina Filova, who just became eligible this semester, made a bold entrance into Blacksburg, taking first in the 500 freestyle in 4:56.39. Kelly deMarrais and Shapiro rounded out the top-three for the women in the 500 free.

deMarrais showed her depth, also taking second in the 50 free sprint, touching in at 24.33. Chip Hughes contributed two solid first-place finishes on the day, finishing the 50 free in 21.84 and the 500 free in 4:46.09, marking his first time competing in both events this season. Erika Hajnal and Blake Trabuchi-Downey both took first in the 200 freestyles, respectively, with finishes of 1:53.05 and 1:43.01. Lauren Ritter and Michael Hallock each recorded second-place finishes in the 200 free.

Trabuchi-Downey would later add another first-place finish in the 100 fly, posting a time of 51.50, and Kaleigh Gomes added a top finish in the women’s 100 fly event, recording a time of 58.07. Sarah Ameen and Gregory Mahon also raced to be title winners, sweeping the 100 backstroke events for the H₂Okies.

Paige Ayres earned her first title of the season in the 200 IM in 2:08.62, leading a H₂Okie squad that collected the top-four spots. Trey Stewart took second for the men in 1:57.69.

To no surprise, the Tech squads conquered all four diving events as Cara Murnan took first in the women’s one-meter with a career-best score of 279.90 and Mikey McDonald narrowly beat out teammate Logan Shinholser in the men’s three-meter event. McDonald finished with 391.13 points, while Shinholser earned a personal-best score of 390.60. McDonald also took first in the men’s one-meter with a final score of 359.03, and Sarah Milton set a school-record performance in the three-meter event with a score of 325.50, breaking Natalie West’s mark of 322.50.

“We just got back from a difficult training trip and I wasn’t sure what to expect out of the divers, but they really stepped up today and performed as well as we have all season,” said head diving coach Ron Piemonte. “It was a good day and we’re excited to move forward next weekend at Florida State.”

Karl Botha turned in a personal best time in the men’s 100 freestyle, taking first in 47.00, followed by Andrew Rogers and Trevor Carr. On the women’s side, Abby Barney and Addie Carne took second and third, respectively.

To close out the day, the H₂Okie squads saw top-finishes in the 100 breaststroke events as seniors Sarah Losinger and Scott Harkins went out strong, with respective times of 1:05.02 and 58.50. Losinger’s winning time marked an individual season-best finish and the second-fastest by a H₂Okie this season.

Seniors Griffin Lutterbein, Chip Hughes, Mikey McDonald, Sarah Ameen, Sarah Losinger and Scott Harkins all collected individual titles on Senior Day, while Abby Barney, Kelly deMarrais, Sara Shapiro and Jessica Earl helped the H₂Okies to relay titles as well.

“The fact that our seniors had such a great day means a lot to me personally because of what they mean to our program,” said H₂Okie’s head coach Ned Skinner. “The seniors have been some of the best swimmers and divers in our program and really showed their leadership today. We will enjoy celebrating these victories but we know it will be a whole different world next week. We’re really going to be tested by Georgia Tech and Florida State and we need to be good and stay competitive.”

Next up for the Virginia Tech squads are conference foes Georgia Tech and Florida State, as the H₂Okies will travel to Atlanta, Ga., next Saturday, Jan. 23rd, with action starting at noon.