LYNCHBURG, Va. – Juniors Caitlin Reynera (200 IM) and Polina Rukosuev (500 free) each won events during the first day of the TYR ’85 Invite, which was being hosted by Liberty Friday night.
Reynera posted a season-best time of 2:03.31 registering her third win in the 200 IM this year coming fractions of a second away from her personal-best time of 2.03.05. She also competed in the 4×50 free relay along with freshman Grace Weed, freshman Ava Iannetta and senior Randi Palandro where the group claimed a fourth-place finish with a time of 1:35.02, which was a team-best score this season.
Rukoseuv won the 500 free with a personal-best time of 4:53.01, which was six seconds faster than the next swimmer. Junior Meghan French claimed eighth place after a time of 5:10.10 but posted a season-best time of 5:09.81 during prelims earlier in the day.
“It was a GREAT day of swimming and diving for the Pirates, head coach Matt Jabs said. “We came out this morning with excellent effort and put ourselves in good positions for finals. Tonight was a lot of fun. We won two events and on the day everyone put up season-best times, along with a few lifetime bests.”
Senior Chelsea Marstellar posted a time of 2:06.56 in the 200 IM – a season-best – finishing fifth, while freshman Rachel Gibson had a personal-best time of 2:11.30.
Palandro finished fourth in the A-Finals of the 50 free with a season-best time of 23.90, which was .04 away from her personal best time. Iannetta took 12th with a time of 24.08 (season-best) and Weed had a season-best time of 24.08 in the prelims but finished 15th with a time of 24.34.
In the 3-meter dive, sophomore Flanary Patterson finished second with a score of 225.65, while senior Anna Otto took fourth with a score of 215.55. In prelim action, Otto posted a season-best score of 230.75.
ECU returns to action Saturday morning with prelims in six events (100 fly, 400 IM, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back and 3-meter diving) beginning at 10 a.m. Finals eight events will get underway at 6 p.m. inside the Liberty Natatorium.
