LEXINGTON, Va. – VMI Swimming & Diving is set to take on Mount St. Mary's on Saturday at ARCC Swimming Pool.
The Keydets travel to their second opponent of the young season, this time in Maryland, to battle the Mountaineers starting at 2 p.m.
VMI kicked off the year with top times against Army. Despite the result, the meet featured three Rat records and one varsity record snapped, with 15 Keydets top 10 program marks.
For the men, junior
Matthew Picard led the way in the season opener by breaking the 100 Butterfly varsity record with a time of 49.12 en route to third place. Picard would land on the podium again, earning second place in the 50 Freestyle (20.85).
Sophomore
Stephen Russell was tabbed America East Swimmer of the Week after putting up league-best times in the 1,000 Freestyle (9:28.99), which is also a CSCAA B cut time, and 200 IM (1:53.38), earning second place in both races. Russell was also on the winning 200 Free Relay squad that took first against the Black Knights. Russell's 1,000 Free mark is a program top-10 time.
Freshman
Ian Lutz secured Rookie of the Week honors for his collegiate breakout moment against Army, tallying a top league time in the 100 Freestyle (45.73) to take second place. He later earned a 20.0 split in the winning 200 Free Relay and also helped the Keydets earn a top league time in the 200 Medley Relay (1:31.51). Lutz's 100 Free time ranks in the top 10 all-time at VMI.
On the women's side, freshman
Carissa Witte found herself in the program's top 10 in three categories, placing fifth in the 1,000 Freestyle (10:51.71) with 200 and 500 split times helping her hit all three marks. Witte's 1,000 Free time shattered the Rat record that was set in 2021 by over 10 seconds.
Also breaking Rat records from 2021 was freshman
Lacy Delzell, who took home third in the 200 Freestyle (1:57.08). Delzell's 200 Free time was good enough to be in the top 10 all-time, along with her mark in the 100 Backstroke (59.08).
The Keydets' 200 Freestyle Relay squad, filled with freshmen Delzell, Witte,
Maddie Wolfe, and
Valeria Paulson, destroyed an 11-year-old Rat record (1:40.12) and was seconds shy of breaking the varsity record.
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