VMI Swim & Dive at America East Championships - Day Two
Brockton Welling

Men's Swimming and Diving

Keydets Open 2026-27 Season at UMBC

BALTIMORE, Md. – The VMI swimming and diving teams opened the 2026-27 season Saturday afternoon in a tri-meet against UMBC and American University, highlighted by several event victories and strong performances from the Keydet men.
 
The VMI men earned a split on the afternoon, defeating American 215-83 while falling to host UMBC 187.5-112.5. On the women's side, the Keydets fell 238-59 to UMBC and 184-103 to American.

Complete Results
 
Men's Highlights
Sophomore Billy Grau delivered VMI's first individual victory of the meet, taking the 100-yard breaststroke in 57.70. The Keydets packed the top of the standings in the event as Layne Tucker finished third in 59.31 and Austin Reeder followed in fourth at 59.44.
 
Freshman Elijah Tong followed with an impressive collegiate debut in the 200-yard butterfly, winning the event in 1:53.72. Kayleb Eldridge made it a 1-2 finish for VMI with a time of 1:56.01, while fellow freshman Gabe Isely placed sixth in 2:00.16.
 
Freshman Jordan Hewett also made an immediate impact in the distance events. After placing second in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:51.23, Hewett came back to capture the 500 freestyle in 4:46.48, edging UMBC's Joey Kerkman by just 0.18 seconds.
 
VMI added several more runner-up performances throughout the meet. Jack Mills finished second in the 200 freestyle in 1:42.83, while Ian Lutz took second in both the 50 freestyle (21.03) and 100 butterfly (51.29). Eldridge was right behind Lutz in the 100 fly, placing third in 51.38.
 
The Keydets saved one of their best performances for the final event of the afternoon. The quartet of Mills, Sam Calder, Matthew Picard and Lutz won the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:06.36, edging UMBC's top relay by just 0.15 seconds.
 
Women's Highlights
On the women's side, Emerson Cosner recorded one of VMI's top finishes of the afternoon, placing third in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:13.89. She later added a fifth-place showing in the 100 butterfly in 1:00.01.
 
Lacy Delzell turned in a strong day as well, highlighted by a runner-up finish in the 200 backstroke. Delzell touched in 2:11.85 and later placed sixth in the 200 IM in 2:17.19.
 
Mackenzie Byrne led VMI's sprint efforts, finishing fourth in the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.81 before taking fifth in the 100 freestyle in 54.19.
 
In diving, Aeryn Wickersheim led the Keydet women on the 3-meter board with a fourth-place score of 223.05, while Isabelle Haer followed in fifth at 205.50.
 
Up Next
VMI returns to action Oct. 10. The Keydet women will take on Sweet Briar and Hollins, while the men will face Hampden-Sydney.
 
VMI Diving Head Coach Kyle Freisenhahn
"I was very proud to see the divers go out and compete today. We had a lot of good performances, and I'm excited to continue to see them grow as the season continues.
 
Our depth showed with four separate event winners against American.
 
Freshmen Carter Canastra and Aeryn Wickersheim did a great job in their collegiate debuts each winning an event.
 
Isabelle Haer and Hudson Weinhagen picked up right from last year's success both capturing an individual event."
 
VMI Head Swimming Coach Adam Zaczkowski
"It was a good opening effort from both our squads.
 
The Women's team had strong showings from Avery Shuping in the 1000 free and Mackenzie Byrne in the 50 and 100 frees.  I was impressed by the overall effort they showed top down.  
 
Emerson Cosner and Valeria Paulson both showed promise the fly and back respectively.
 
Our Men had breakout swims from Freshmen Jordan Hewett, Billy Grau and Elijah Tong.  All are strong contenders for NEC awards this week. Hewett won the 500 free against both schools, while capturing the 1000 free vs American.  Grau won the 100 breast against both while Tong won the 200 fly convincingly.
 
Senior Captain Matthew Picard was a key contributor in the 4x100 free relay.
 
Jack Mills, Junior, showed he's a force to reckon with in the 200 free come conference championships.
 
Sophomore Ian Lutz was fast in the 50 free and 100 fly.
 
I was encouraged by Kayleb Eldridge with almost life time bests in both the 100 and 200 fly."
 
 


 
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Players Mentioned

Sam Calder

Sam Calder

Free/Back
6' 3"
Redshirt Junior
Kayleb Eldridge

Kayleb Eldridge

Free/Fly
5' 7"
Junior
Ian Lutz

Ian Lutz

Free
6' 5"
Sophomore
Jack Mills

Jack Mills

Free/Fly
6' 3"
Junior
Matthew Picard

Matthew Picard

Free
6' 1"
Senior
Austin Reeder

Austin Reeder

Breast/IM
6' 2"
Senior
Layne Tucker

Layne Tucker

Breast/IM
5' 11"
Senior
Hudson Weinhagen

Hudson Weinhagen

Dive
5' 8"
Sophomore
Mackenzie Byrne

Mackenzie Byrne

Free/Fly
5' 9"
Junior
Emerson Cosner

Emerson Cosner

Free/Fly
5' 6"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Sam Calder

Sam Calder

6' 3"
Redshirt Junior
Free/Back
Kayleb Eldridge

Kayleb Eldridge

5' 7"
Junior
Free/Fly
Ian Lutz

Ian Lutz

6' 5"
Sophomore
Free
Jack Mills

Jack Mills

6' 3"
Junior
Free/Fly
Matthew Picard

Matthew Picard

6' 1"
Senior
Free
Austin Reeder

Austin Reeder

6' 2"
Senior
Breast/IM
Layne Tucker

Layne Tucker

5' 11"
Senior
Breast/IM
Hudson Weinhagen

Hudson Weinhagen

5' 8"
Sophomore
Dive
Mackenzie Byrne

Mackenzie Byrne

5' 9"
Junior
Free/Fly
Emerson Cosner

Emerson Cosner

5' 6"
Junior
Free/Fly