Washington and Lee University
LONG BEACH, Calif. – The Washington and Lee men’s and women’s swimming teams were in action on Saturday evening at the Finis Collegiate Invitational.
After participating in just one of the two days contested thus far, the W&L men are fourth out of nine teams, while the women are sixth out of 11 squads.
Leading the way for the men was senior Paul Crook (Nashville, Tenn./Montgomery Bell), who finished third in the 200 free with an NCAA “B” cut time of 1:40.36 and swam a leg of the 200 medley relay that finished second overall (1:37.09) and participated on the 800 free relay team that placed third overall (6:53.95). He was joined on the 200 relay team by junior Winston Stagg (Midlothian, Va./Governor’s School), first-year Brian Stirling (Skillman, N.J./Montgomery) and junior Brandon Barnds (Mission Hills, Kansas/Shawnee), while his teammates on the 800 relay team were senior Brett Tatman (Marietta, Ga./Walton), senior Chris Diebold (Platte City, Mo./Landsdale Catholic) and first-year Ryan Hartman (Yorktown, Va./Grafton).
First-year Jeff Stirling (Skillman, N.J./Montgomery) finished as the runner-up in the 100 fly with a time of 52.10, while classmate Robert Grattan (Richmond, Va./Trinity Episcopal) placed second in the 100 breast (1:00.51).
For the W&L women, senior Lindsey Strachan (Midlothian, Va./Governor’s School) led the way with a second place finish in the 100 back with an NCAA “B” cut and school-record time of 59.20.
The 800 free relay team of first-year Elizabeth Starnes (Harrison, Tenn./Girls Prep), senior Susan Mahoney (Richmond, Va./St. Catherines), first-year Jocelyn Cassada (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Country Day) and junior Sarah Simpson (Charlotte, N.C./South Mecklenburg) also set a school record (8:05.73) in finishing fourth overall.
Other individual leaders for the women were Mahoney, who placed third in the 400 IM with a time of 4:45.85 and Starnes, who placed fifth in the 200 free with a time of 1:58.11. Senior Julianne Miata (Valhalla, N.Y./Westlake) also finished eighth in the 100 fly with a time of 1:01.81.
Finis Invitational action continues on Sunday afternoon with the third day of competition.
~ Generals ~