Women in Second, Men in Third after Day Three of A-10 Championships

GENEVA, Ohio – Three school records fell and two individual event titles were captured as day three of the Atlantic 10 Swimming and Diving Championships concluded Friday evening at the SPIRE Institute. Entering Saturday's final day of competition, the UMass women's swimming and diving team is second, while the men's team is third.

Meriza Werenski and Emma Roush highlighted several spectacular performances for the Minutewomen on Friday. Werenski won the 400 individual medley for the second straight year with an NCAA B-cut time of 4 minutes, 17.46 seconds. Roush won gold in the three-meter dive adding to her one-meter title from Wednesday.

The women's team concluded the day with 381 points to move up from third place to second. Richmond holds a slim margin over the Minutewomen with 413 points as the current meet leader. Duquesne is third with 342.5 points, while Fordham has 296.5 points.

The men's team slipped from first after day two to third at the end of Friday, but will make up points with diving scheduled for Saturday. The Minutemen have 300 points after three days. George Washington moved into first place with 378 points followed by La Salle (378 points). Saint Louis is just behind UMass with 279 points.

The Minutemen saw several outstanding performances led by Oliver Wyeth's new school record and NCAA B-cut effort in the 100 back. He placed third overall with a time of 48.30 in the finals, but set his school record time of 48.03 seconds in the preliminary race.

The 100 back also saw Kellen Gray finish fourth in 49.07 seconds and Kyle Stefanides take ninth with the third-fastest time in program history (49.34 seconds).

Other highlights included Al Madden placing 10^th in the 100 breast (56.07 seconds) and Gray taking 10^th in the 100 fly (49.69 seconds). Both turned in the fifth-fastest times in program history for their events with Gray's time of 49.53 seconds coming in the preliminary race.

Anthony Rizzo rounded out the highlights with an eighth place effort in the 400 individual medley. His prelim time of 4 minutes, 0.07 seconds is the ninth fastest performance in UMass history.

The Minutemen ended the day with a fifth-place showing in the 400 medley relay.

In women's action, Ansley Baker set a new school record in the 100 breast with a NCAA-B cut time of 1-minute, 1.84 seconds, while Maddie Biron set a new school record in the 100 back (55.44 seconds) placing ninth overall to win the consolation finals.

The 100 breast and 100 back were major point gainers for UMass along with the three-meter dive. Just behind Baker in the 100 breast was Chelsea Meiring and Sydney Connor who took fifth (1:03.08) and sixth (1:03.34), respectively, with the second and third fastest times in program history.

Dasha Egkorova placed seventh in the 100 back with a finals time of 55.84 seconds. Her mark of 55.76 seconds in the prelims stands as the second-fastest time in program history. Megan Gray rounded out the trio with a 15^th-place finish including her time of 56.52 in the prelims standing as the sixth-fastest performance at UMass.

Paced by Roush, the divers again scored big points for the Minutewomen. Katie Polk reached the podium with a third-place effort of 274.65 points. Julia Jagannath placed fourth, while Maja Boric placed fifth as the group combined for 65 total points.

Rounding out the top individual efforts for UMass during the day were Rachel Grant who took sixth in the 100 fly (56.28) and Jenna Diamond who placed 11^th in the 400 individual medley (4:25.00).

The night concluded on a high note with a third place finish for the 400 medley relay team which turned in a 3-minute, 45.49 second performance by Biron, Connor, Grant, and Baker.

For complete coverage of the UMass swimming and diving team, follow the men's team on Twitter and Facebook at @UMassMSwimDive and the women's team at @UMassWSwimDive as well as online at www.UMassAthletics.com.

Scoreboard

Women in Second, Men in Third after Day Three of A-10 Championships

Players Mentioned

Kellen Gray

Al Madden

Anthony Rizzo

Kyle Stefanides

Oliver Wyeth

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics