FULL RESULTSDukes 154, Richmond 145

RICHMOND, Va. - Following a back-and-forth affair, the Duquesne 200-yard freestyle relay team earned a victory over Richmond in the final event of the meet to secure a 154-145 triumph over the host Spiders on Saturday morning.

The Dukes completed the sweep of the Richmond Duals after a 187.50-104.50 victory over Davidson on Friday night.

The DU 200-yard freestyle relay team, consisting of senior Michelle Heim (Greensboro, N.C./Ragsdale), juniors Kristen McKnight (Gibsonia, Pa./Hampton) and Emily Thirion (Warren, Ohio/Warren) as well as sophomore Carson Gross (York, Pa./York Suburban), posted a time of 1:36.31 to seal the win over Richmond, the winners of the last seven A-10 titles.

All told, the Dukes bested the Spiders in eight events on the day.

Freshman Emma Brinton (Landenburg, Pa./Avon Grove) finished with two event wins in the 200-yard backstroke (2:03.94) and the 400-yard IM (4:30.05).

McKnight paced all swimmers in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.19, while senior Lexi Santer (Wilmington, Del./Charter School of Wilmington) finished first in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:54.67. In addition, Santer was right behind Brinton in the 400-yard IM, finishing in 4:32.83.

The Dukes had four swimmers finish prior to any Spider swimmers in the 100-yard butterfly, including junior Morgan Smith (Chapel Hill, N.C./East Chapel Hill) (58.30), freshman Cateri Christinis (Charleroi, Pa./Oakland Catholic) (58.79), Thirion (58.88) and senior Kayla Owens (Youngstown, Pa./Greater Latrobe) (58.88). Smith (2:07.90), Christinis (2:10.35) and junior Gabrielle Werner (Livingston, N.J./Livingston) (2:10.89) did the same for Duquesne in the 200-yard butterfly.

Junior Abigail Stauffer (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg) topped all Richmond swimmers in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:05.80.

Head Coach David Sheets: "It was great to get two wins this weekend, the swimmers and the divers worked really hard for both. For the Richmond meet to come down to the last relay was very fitting for the way the meet went back and forth. With that being said, we have a lot of work to do if we want to compete at the highest level of the conference. The ladies are working very hard but we have to start focusing on the little things in our races and at practice. If we can do that we will continue to get better."

Head Diving Coach Charlie Hauser: "The ladies did an awesome job this weekend. Day one started off with a lot of nerves but all three divers found their stride and managed to get the job done in spite of that. I was very happy with the focus and that they all made corrections and adjustments for day two. I think this was a strong first experience for the divers"

Up Next: The Dukes return to action next Saturday, Oct. 28 with the Atlantic 10 Conference Quad Meet in Geneva, Ohio. The meet is slated to get underway at 11 a.m. George Mason, La Salle, St. Bonaventure and St. Louis are also scheduled to compete at the two-day event.