Senior Day victory for Davidson Swimming & Diving

The Davidson men's and women's swimming and diving teams earned a big victory against conference opponent   Gardner-Webb on Senior Day this past Saturday.  Both were dominating performances with the men winning by a score of 196-89 and the women's team winning by a similar score of 170-124.  The seniors that were honored were Curtis Chaney, Joe Burquist, David Kerman, Geoff Peitz and Nick Taylor from the men's team.  The women who were honored were Meagan Madden, Lauren Kamperman, Jessica Ardecky, and Juliana Porter.  

The senior class took advantage of their special day with all 5 of the men and 2 women earning first place finishes in their events.  Curtis Chaney '12 won both the 100-meter and 200-meter freestyles, events in which he was followed by Wills Cooper '13 in the 100 and Brandon Kegley '15 in the 200. Joe Burquist '12 and David Kerman '12 took first in the 100 and 200 butterfly respectively.  Geoff Peitz '12 captured both the 100 and 200 freestyle while Nick Taylor '12 won the 1-meter dive.  For the senior women, Meagan Madden '12 led the 1000 freestyle followed by teammates Allison Cottle '13 and Megan McLeod '14 while Lauren Kamperman '12 topped the competition in the 200-meter freestyle.

In addition to the strong senior performances, the men's team captured 15 out of 16 possible events against the Runnin' Bulldogs.  Cooper won the 50-meter freestyle followed by Chaney.  Dylan Ludwick '15 captured both the 500-meter freestyle and 1000-yard free while Drew Onken '13 won the 200-meter breaststroke as well as 400-meter individual medley.  In addition to Taylor's victory in men's diving, Tim Keating '13 won the 3-meter diving title.  The men also won the 200 Medley Relay with a time of 1:34.37 and the 200 Freestyle Relay with a time of 1:25.61.

With an equally dominating performance, the women's team was led by Meredith Nakano '15.  Nakano won three events, the 50 and 100-meter freestyle as well as the 100-meter butterfly. Jean DeOrnellas '13 placed second in the two freestyles cementing Davidson's dominance in the meet.  Additionally, Kelsi Hobbs '13 won the 200-meter backstroke and placed second in the 100-meter butterfly and the 100-meter backstroke while Anna Blair Bullock '15 won the 500-meter freestyle and finished in second in the 200-meter freestyle. In the diving events, Kaliya Burton-Akright '14 won both the 1-meter and 3-meter dives.  The women's 200 Freestyle Relay team, comprised of Caroline Vrana '14 and Liz Mace '14 along with Nakano, and DeOrnellas, captured the event with a time of 1:39.17.

After almost upsetting ACC power Clemson and finishing 3rd at the Kenyon Invitational in December, the men's team looks very strong heading into next Saturday's CCSA Duals at 1pm at Davidson. The women's team, who also had a strong showing in the opening meet against Clemson and finished 4th at the Kenyon Invitational, will also hope to use the win as a stepping stone to try and cement their dominance in the conference on Saturday.