George Mason, Toronto vs. Richmond

FAIRFAX, Virginia, October 28. THE Richmond swimming & diving team earned a split in its double dual with George Mason and Toronto on Friday at the Patriots' Jim McKay Natatorium in Fairfax, Va. The Spiders prevailed, 191-102, over the Patriots and were topped, 160-128, by Toronto.

"We tried a slightly different lineup tonight," said head coach Matt Barany. "We saw our returners in new events, and we learned another angle of our freshmen.

Sophomore Mali Kobelja (Fort Wayne, Ind./R. Nelson Snider) touched in first in the 50 free with a time of 24.19, while junior Lauren Hines (Roanoke, Va./Hidden Valley) clocked a 24.40 to get edged for the second spot by a mere one-hundredth of a second.

Senior Jill Smaniotto (Millville, N.J./Millville) secured her first win of the season in the 100 fly with a time of 57.57. Classmate Charlotte Brackett (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) recorded a time of 58.89 to round out the top three.

A pair of freshman also made a splash for the Spiders in the 200 fly. Meredith Gouger (Cockeysville, Md./Dulaney) clocked a 2:05.40 and Allison Titley (Richmond, Va./Saint Gertrude) touched in just behind with a time of 2:05.68 as the tandem went 2-3 in the event.

Kobelja, Hines, junior Mina Vucic (Bethesda, Md./Walter Johnson) and senior Liz Cohan (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) combined for a time of 3:31.69 to finish second in the 400 free relay and just one-half second behind Toronto.

Rising rookie Katherine Cook (Kenilworth, Ill./New Trier) swept both boards on Friday, turning in a time of 237.81 to capture her third win of the season in 1-meter diving and a score of 260.85 to come away with the win on the 3-meter board.

"Katherine has shown improvement in all of her dives," said diving coach Erika Matheis. "Thanks to weight training and working hard in the pool, she is spinning faster and jumping higher. I have seen a huge improvement over the past few weeks both mentally and physically, and I look forward to the next few meets."

Next up for the Spiders is the Terrapin Cup from Nov. 17-19 at Maryland's Eppley Recreation Center in College Park, Md. All the latest Spider Swim & Dive news can be found right here on RichmondSpiders.com and by visiting the program's Facebook page.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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