The Basics:

Score:  Women: Roanoke 264 (2^nd) | Men: Roanoke 409 (2^nd)
Meet: ODAC Relays hosted by Washington and Lee
Location: Lexington, Va.

The Lead: The 2021-22 swim season kicked off with the annual ODAC Relay Meet hosted by Washington and Lee University. The Maroons men finished just a single point, 410-409, behind the host Generals for a second-place finish. The women also finished runner-up to W&L but were able to best Lynchburg (264-253), after finishing 2^nd to the Hornets in the 2021 ODAC Championships.  

Women's highlights:

• The Maroons posted a first and third in the 500 Yard Relay (50-100-150-200). The quartet of Elizabeth Roberts, Lilly Mullens, Hannah Zhang, and Susanna Price bested eh field in a time of 4:48.19, just 10 seconds ahead of the third-place team of Paige Shaika, Hannah Petty, Maria Vinson and Grace Fountain.
• Mullens, Maddie Andrews, and Bailey Gallagher posted the first of six runner-up finishes in the meet's opening event, 150 Yard Back 3x50 Relay, with a time of 1:22.37.
• In the 400 Yard Free Relay, Mullens, Price, Petty, and Roberts just got out-touched by the W&L team (2.4 seconds) at 3:43.44.
• Mullens, Vinson, and Gallagher earned their second-place finish in the 300 Yard 3x100 Individual Medley Relay (3:10.48).
• The 200 Yard Medley Relay saw Andrews, Mullens, and Roberts join Lore Gibson for a runner-up time of 1:53.66.
• Andrews, Vinson, Gallagher, and Price each swam a 25 in the 100 Yard Dolphin Kick Relay to finish in a time of 54.42.
• The final event for the woman was the 200 Yard Free Relay and the team of Roberts, Shaika, Zhang, and Petty finished second, in between a pair of General teams in a final time of 1:43.11.

Men's highlights:

• The Roanoke men won six of the nine events with three runner-up finishes.
• Erik Kratzer, Richie Evans, and Xavier Williams picked up the Maroons first win of the afternoon with a time of 1:13.55 in the 150 Yard 3x50 Back Relay.
• Kratzer and Williams teamed with Ben Tate and Brian Grimmett to touch first in the 400 Yard Free Relay (3:11.58).
• Kratzer joined Chris Snow and Davis Wheeler for a victory in the 300 Yard 3x100 Individual Medley Relay, beating the W&L entry by just .09 of a second (2:46.41 to 2:46.50).
• Williams and Tate returned to the winner's circle when they joined Logan Deal and Ethan Brewer to finish the 500 Yard (50-100-150-200) Relay in a final time of 4:11.50.
• Williams, Tate, Deal and Kratzer won the 200 Yard Medley Relay in 1:35.83.
• The final event of the meet would see Roanoke once again touch first. The team of Deal, Tate, Evans, and Williams won by .01 of a second in the 200 Yard Free Relay.

Up next:  The Maroons will host Lees McRae in a dual meet at the Salem YMCA next Saturday, October 16^th.