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Senior Day Set for Saturday against TCU
January 13, 2017 01:50 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University swimming and diving team hosts Big 12 rival TCU on Saturday, on Senior Day at the WVU Natatorium.
Diving is set to begin at 10 a.m. ET, while swimming will commence at 11 a.m. The Mountaineers will also honor their four seniors, Mackenzie Braden, Austin Green, Nathan Howells and Emma Skelley.
Fans can follow live results from the meet at WVUsports.com/Swimming, and updates will also be available throughout the meet by following @WVUSwimDive on Twitter.
“Senior Day is an emotional day for all of us,” WVU coach Vic Riggs said. “Realizing that these seniors will never compete again in the WVU Natatorium is hard to believe. It’s been an honor to have Emma, MacKenzie, Austin and Nathan be a part of this program. Each of them have contributed so much to the program and I thank them for being Mountaineers and wish them the best.
“As for the meet against TCU. we will have to raise our level of intensity from what we had last week. If we can capitalize on the energy from senior day and build on it for the meet we can swim very well. (TCU Coach) Richard (Sybesma) does a great job and TCU is always a very tough and competitive meet for us regardless if it is at home or at TCU. These meets have typically gone down to the last few events, which leads to a great atmosphere for a dual meet.”
Saturday marks WVU’s first competition against a Big 12 foe this season. The WVU women enter the weekend with a dual meet record of 3-4, while the men are 2-4. TCU’s men are 1-1, while the women are 1-1-1. The Horned Frogs’ women’s team has faced two Big 12 opponents, with a loss at Kansas and a tie at home to Iowa State. Saturday will be the TCU men’s team’s first conference meet of the season.
A year ago against TCU, it came down to the final race for both the men’s and women’s teams, as the men earned a 154-144 win in Fort Worth, Texas, while the women fell by a 157-143 margin. The men claimed victories in 10 of 16 events while the women posted eight wins.
The Mountaineers also posted a clean sweep on springboard, as Alex Obendorf posted wins on 1- and 3-meter for the men and Julia Calcutt claimed 1-meter and Madelyn Woods prevailed on 3-meter for the women.
The Mountaineers are coming off a loss at Pitt on Saturday. The WVU women fell 205.5-94.5, while the men lost 214-86. Freshman Morgan Bullock won all three individual events she raced in against the Panthers, while sophomore Merwane El Merini won both individual events he competed in. Bullock’s victories came in the 200 butterfly, where the Mountaineers swept the top three finishes, the 100 butterfly and the 200 individual medley. El Merini posted wins in the 50 and 100 freestyle.
In addition to Bullock and El Merini’s wins at Pitt, the Mountaineers recorded two scores that rank in the top five in program history. In the men's 1,000 freestyle, freshman Trayton Saladin’s 9:32.27 was the fourth-fastest time in program history and good for a runner-up finish against Pitt. In the same event, junior James Koval tied his own fifth-best mark in the WVU record books with a 9:35.34, placing fifth.
Following Saturday’s Senior Day matchup, West Virginia returns to the road for a pair of races at Bucknell and Villanova in two weeks. WVU faces Bucknell on Friday, Jan. 27, at 6 p.m. ET, before traveling to Villanova the following day for a 1 p.m. ET matchup.
For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUSwimDive on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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