Yellow Jackets No Match For Maroons In Pool

action photo of RC swimmer in freestyle competition
Roanoke defeated Randolph-Macon 137-68

The Basics:

Score:  Women 121-84 | Men 137-68
Meet: Roanoke vs. Randolph-Macon
Location: Salem, Va. (YMCA)

The Lead: For the first time in 2020, the Roanoke swim team was in the pool when they welcomed Randolph-Macon on Saturday afternoon. Both the women and men picked up wins as the two teams combined to win 16 of the 22 events.  

Women's highlights:

  • The women finished first in seven of the nine individual events while claiming one of the two relay races.
  • With the meet's outcome still in doubt, RC finished 1-2-3 in the 500 Freestyle to secure the win. Maria Vinson posted a time of 5:35.62, two seconds clear of teammate Julia Volz with Izzy Mack claiming third.
  • In the other distance event, 1000 Freestyle, the Maroons also made it a clean sweep of the top three when Quinn Keatley finished in 11:15.77 followed by Volz and Mack.
  • Reilly Bird won the 50 Freestyle (26.15) while Paige Shaika picked up first place points in the 100 Freestyle (57.50)
  • Maddie Andrews paced the field in the 100 Backstroke with Vinson adding a win in the 200 Individual Medley and Hannah Petty earned RC a win in the 200 Freestyle.
  • To close out the meet, the quartet of Petty, Vinson, Andrews, and Shaika added the women's eighth victory of the afternoon with a win in the 400 Freestyle Relay.

Men's highlights:

  • The men just matched their teammates, earning eight wins (seven individual and one relay).
  • In the first individual race, the 1000 Freestyle, RC took the top two spots with Josh Rauch finishing just ahead of Jack Vaughn with a final time of 10:24.75.
  • The 100 Butterfly would see Ben Tate post a final time of 53.20, his best time of the season and the fourth fastest in the ODAC. Tate would return in the 500 Freestyle to best the field with a final time of 5:01.18 and finishing just ahead of Bowery after he made a late race pass to finish runner-up.
  • Connor Kinkema was the only swimmer to post a sub-one minute time when he touched in 59.09 in the 100 Breaststroke. Kinkema also brought home the win in the 200 Individual Medley.
  • Brian Grimmett earned a pair of wins in the 100 and 200 Freestyles and in the short race of the day, Xavier Williams finished less than a tenth of a second ahead of teammate Nick McGrath in the 50 Freestyle.
  • Tate, Williams, and Grimmett joined Cole Hensen to claim the final race of the 22 event meet with a win in the 400 Freestyle Relay.

Up next:  The Maroons will wrap up their regular season next weekend when they travel to Lexington to swim in a tri-meet against W&L and Randolph.