The Virginia Tech Hokies dominated in the water on Saturday taking down Big Ten opponent, Penn State on both sides. The No 13 Virginia Tech men won 196.5 to 103.5 with strong performances from Luis Dominguez, Antani Ivanov, Youssef Ramadan, and more. The women controlled the day early, with the final score of 213 to 83. Sarah Shackelford, Karisa Franz, and Emma Atkinson helped lead to Hokies to a significant victory at the Christiansburg Aquatics Center.
HEAD COACH SERGIO LOPEZ MIRO
“Our team is in a very good position. We got to race at a high level and had some pretty good times. All of our coaches believe we are on the right path. Our next meet, South Carolina and Duke will be coming in for the Virginia Tech Invitational. That will be a good test the swimmers preparing for ACC’s. It was great to honor our seniors, today. They have given so much to the team. Overall, a very good week for swimming and diving.”
HEAD DIVING COACH RIO RAMIREZ
“We had a great meet against Penn State. I am proud of our seniors for their leadership and for stepping it up in practice and at every meet. We had some personal bests, consistency, and confidence in the new dives, with high degree of difficulty. I am certain we are stepping in the right direction leading to our championship.”
Sarah Shackelford owned the freestyle events throughout the day. She started the day as the anchor in the first place 200 medley relay with Emma Atkinson, Anna Landon, and Karisa Franz. Their relay finished with a time of 1:38.46, a Top 25 time and a Virginia Tech All-Time Top 10 record. Before the break, she got first in the 50 free with a time of 22.74. Immediately following the break, she swam in the 100 free. Shackelford finished first with a time of 49.47. She was followed by teammates, Landon (49.94), and Rose Pouch (51.25) who finished second and third, sweeping the event. She finished the day as the anchor of the winning 200 free relay Landon, Caroline Bentz, and Atkinson, finishing with a time of 1:30.39.
Emma Atkinson controlled the backstroke events throughout the meet. She was the leadoff to the record-breaking 200 medley relay with Landon, Pouch, and Shackelford. She touched the wall with a 24.57 split. She earned first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 52.49. Later, in the 200 back, Atkinson placed first with a time of 1:52.52, earning her a spot in the Top 25 in the country and a pool record. She finished the day as the third leg of the winning 200 free relay with Landon, Bentz, and Shackelford.
Luana Alonso is making her presence known as a Hokie. She came ready to compete in the first event of the day, the 200 medley relay. She was the third leg with Alex Slayton, Charlotte Rigg, and Abby Larson. They finished fourth with a time of 1:41.37, with Alonso swimming a 23.89 50 fly split. She competed in the 200 fly finishing fourth with a time of 2:01.22, behind teammates Karisa Franz (1st, 1:59.90) and Morgan Miller (2nd, 2:00.68). She reached a the next level during the 100 fly when she finished first, finishing with a time of 53.03, followed by Franz (53.26). She finished the day in as the leadoff in the 200 free relay. She was the leadoff with Larson, Megan Judge, and Julia Bruneau. They finished third with a time of 1:32.77 and Alonso swam a 50 free split of 23.59.
Luis Dominguez won the battle of endurance during his events on Saturday. He won first place in the 1,000 freestyle with a time of 9:09.63, earning him a spot in Virginia Tech’s All-Time Top 10. He was followed by teammates Filippo Dal Maso (2nd, 9:14.00) and Nikolas Lee-Bishop (9:18.69) completing the sweep. In the 500 freestyle, Dominguez placed first with a time of 4:23.70. He was the anchor for the winning 200 free relay with Henry Claesson, Blake Manoff, and Noah Desman finishing with a time of 1:18.21. Dominguez swam a 50 free split of 19.82.
He was, also, the anchor to the 200 medley relay with Blake Manoff, Cobi Lopez Miro, and Claesson. They finished third with a time of 1:27.64, Dominguez swam a 50 free split of 19.75.
Antani Ivanov celebrated his senior day in style, with lots of wins. He got his first as the third leg of the winning 200 medley relay with Youssef Ramadan, Carles Coll Marti, and Thomas Hallock. Ivanov swam a 50 fly split of 20.36 and the relay finished with a time of 1:25.13, earning them a spot in the country’s Top 25, as well as in Virginia Tech’s All-Time Top 10. He then competed in the 200 fly where he finished first with a time of 1:42.85, followed by Manoff who finished with a time of 1:46.60. Ivanov’s time earned him a spot in the Top 25.
Sam Tornqvist had some impressive swims in the backstroke events. He began the day in the 100 backstroke, finishing first with a time of 46.65. He was quickly followed by teammates Nico Garcia (3rd, 47.67) and Gabriel Yuk (4th, 47.96). Later, in the 200 backstroke finishing with a time of 1:43.79, earning second only eight-one-hundredths of a second behind first place. He was followed soon by Nico Garcia (3rd, 1:46.50) and Forest Webb (1:47.50).
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