PITTSBURGH - The Duquesne swimming and diving team split a pair of duals on Saturday in the Dukes' 2019 home finale, as DU topped Xavier by a score of 159-100 and the Dukes fell by a score of 137-124. The Bobcats also bested the Musketeers 169-90 on the day.

Seniors Kirsten Hillsley (Port Matilda, Pa. / State College), Sydnee Karam (Nazareth, Pa. / Bethlehem Catholic), Kristen McKnight (Gibsonia, Pa. / Hampton), Morgan Smith (Chapel Hill, N.C. / East Chapel Hill), Abigail Stauffer (Chambersburg, Pa. / Chambersburg), Emily Thirion (Warren, Ohio / Warren) and Gabrielle Werner (Livingston, N.J. / Livingston) were recognized prior to Saturday's meet for their contributions to the Duquesne swimming and diving program over the last four seasons. The Duquesne swimming and diving class of 2019 helped the Dukes capture their first Atlantic 10 championship last season, in addition to a pair of two second-place showings in 2016 and '17.

Emma Brinton (Landenberg, Pa./Avon Grove) paced Duquesne with three first-place finishes on the afternoon, winning the 200-yard freestyle (1:54.04), 200-yard backstroke (1:54.04) and the 200-yard IM (2:06.46).

The Dukes finished 1-2 in the 200-yard freestyle, as Carson Gross (York, Pa. / York Suburban) placed second (1:54.65) for Duquesne.

DU's 200-yard medley relay team of Audrey Steen (San Pedro, Calif. / San Pedro), Stauffer, McKnight and Smith kicked off the swimming portion of the meet with a first-place mark of 1:46.57.

Stauffer and Steen each added first-place individual finishes as well, as Stauffer won the 100-yard breaststroke (1:05.14) and Steen the 100-yard butterfly (58.44).

In addition, McKnight (50-yard freestyle - 24.71) (100-yard butterfly - 58.98), Stauffer (200-yard breaststroke 2:20.94), Gross (500-yard freestyle - 5:09.25), Hillsley (100-yard breaststroke - 1:08.39) and Sophia Perez (Chapel Hill, N.C. / East Chapel Hill) (200-yard butterfly - 2:07.23) each bested Xavier in their respective events.

Adrienne White (Gibsonia, Pa. / Hampton) paced the Duquesne divers with fourth-place showings in the 1-meter (245.33) and 3-meter (232.20).

Head coach David Sheets: "I was extremely happy with how the team performed today. With it being senior day, it is always a special day. This group has done so much for our program and I am glad their last home meet at Towers went so well. I am excited for how we raced and the upcoming weeks moving towards A-10's"

Head diving coach Charlie Hauser: "Today everyone made some great progress. We are returning to competitive form after the mid-season break. We need to remain focused on our goals and continue building confidence, but I think we are tracking in the right direction at this stage."

NEXT UP
Duquesne makes the short trek to Trees Pool for the 2019 Western Pennsylvania Invite hosted by Pitt. The divers will compete on Friday, Jan. 25 starting at 1 p.m. followed by swimming on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 12 p.m.