Several Mountaineers to Compete at U.S. Open

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

December 03, 2019 01:45 PM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving

By: Olivia VanHorn

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Twenty members of the West Virginia University men's and women's swimming and diving teams are set to compete at USA Swimming's 2019 Toyota U.S. Open Championships in Atlanta, Georgia, from Dec. 4-7.

Action at Georgia Tech's McAuley Aquatic Center is set to begin on Wednesday, with prelims tabbed for 10 a.m. ET and finals scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.

Results from each evening's finals session will be available at USASwimming.org/USOpen. The event will be broadcast on NBC.

"With this being an Olympic year, having the opportunity to compete in long-course meters is a huge benefit to our athletes," WVU coach Vic Riggs said. "It will be vital experience for them as we continue working towards making the cuts for Olympic Trials and other national meets."

Seniors Jack Frazier, Austin Hartke, Sam Neaveill, Jack Portmann and Trayton Saladin, juniors David Dixon, Max Gustafson, Denys Kostromin, Christopher O'Shea, Angelo Russo and Ryen Van Wyk, sophomore Josh Harlan and freshmen Hunter Armstrong and Conrad Molinaro will represent the men's team at the event.

On the women's side, seniors Morgan Bullock, Julia Nilton and Alex Pampalone, junior Ally VanNetta and freshmen Emily Haimes and Mathilde Kaelbel also will be in attendance.

The four-day long meet gives the athletes a chance to improve their times ahead of the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. The nation's top swimmers will be on hand to compete in Atlanta this weekend.

The Mountaineers last competed when they hosted the WVU Invitational from Nov. 21-23, at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park. The men's team collected a victory at the meet, as it tallied 2,111 team points to top Kenyon College in second with 1,579.5. The women finished in second place with 1,410 team points, behind William & Mary, which finished first with 1,615.5 team points.

Two school records were broken at the Mountaineers' first-ever home mid-season invitational. First, Armstrong set a record in the 200 freestyle as he touched the wall in 1:35.80 to top the previous mark of 1:36.18. Dixon also set a record in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:41.59. The mark not only bested the previous record of 1:42.15, which he set last season, but it also became the top time in the 200 fly in Division I men's swimming as of Nov. 23.

For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUSwimDive on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.