WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Catholic University women's swimming & diving team earned its highest point total of the season in a win over Landmark opponent Goucher Saturday afternoon, topping the Gophers 213-49.
The Cardinals got off to an ideal start, opening with a first, second, third finish in the 200-medley relay. Caroline Beal (29.40), Molly Donnellan (34.29), Angela Castano (26.72), and Julia Labich (26.47) teamed up to take the top spot in the meet's first event.
Freshman Kelly Smith followed with a win in the meet's longest event, the 1000-freestyle, finishing with a time of 11:36.31.
Senior Valerie Sander took the top spot in the 200-freestyle in the next event (2:06.20). She contributed in another first place finish in the 200-freestyle relay with a 27.60 split to close the meet.
The undergrad trio of Donnellan, Castano, and Beal all added to the multiple event-winners in later events. Donnellan won the 100-breaststroke (1:16.12), Castano topped the 50-freestyle sprint (26.14) and Beal finished first in the 500-freestyle (5:37.68).
Senior Emily Messina took the top spot in the 100-butterfly, beating a Goucher swimmer by just more than a third of a second.
In total, the Cardinals finished one, two, three in eight of the meet's fourteen events. Catholic (4-1) now moves to 2-1 in the Landmark Conference.
Colleen O'Callaghan and Mackenzie Earley competed on the boards, diving in 1-meter and 3-meter events. O'Callaghan earned a score of 142.05 on the 1-meter and 121.42 on the 3-meter. Earley received a 120.37 mark on the 1-meter dive event.
With its conference meets wrapped up, the team will now prepare for the Yellow Jacket Invitational in Ashland, Va. on November 30 and December 1.
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