RICHMOND, Va. – The Duquesne University swimming and diving team earned a split at the Richmond Duals Friday and Saturday at SWIMRVA and the Robins Center Friday and Saturday.
 
Duquesne defeated George Mason on Friday, 171.5-127.5. The Dukes were narrowly defeated 152-145 by host Richmond in the second dual on Saturday.
 
"For the first meet of the season, I was pleased with how we executed our races and competed," Duquesne Head Coach David Sheets said. "We know we have work to do to become more holistically competitive and these two days gives us a good benchmark for the direction we are headed, as well as some of the focal points we need to adjust."
 
On Friday, the Dukes opened competition at the Richmond Duals with George Mason.
 
Orla Egan opened the event with a victory in the 1650-yard freestyle, narrowly finishing two second in front of George Mason's Grace Sweeney with a time of 17:41.74. Egan also paced the pool in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:06.62.
 
Abby Mele posted the top time in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:05.80.
 
Haley Scholer touched the wall first in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:00.57 that narrowly edged out George Mason's Anaa Whelan.
 
Emma Menzer was the top finisher in the 200-yard breaststroke, edged out teammate Sydney Severini with a time of 2:23.61.
 
Kayla Johnson won the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 51.91 seconds.
 
The Dukes dominated the dives versus George Mason. Amy Read posted a 287.00 in the three-meter dive and a 263.10 in the one-meter dive to win both events. She was paced in both events by Sidney O'Donnell, Ashley Felitsky and Morgan Doolittle.
 
"The divers came out strong for their first meet," said Diving Coach Jeanine Stright. "Both Sidney and Amy qualified for the NCAA Zone cut score. The twin sophomores, Morgan and Julia Doolittle returned strong and also provided points to the team, and our new freshmen, Ashley Felitsky and Kendall Nigh also proved to be a force for the swimming and diving program.  Ashley was very close to a Zone cut as well.  I am so excited for this season."
 
The Dukes continued competition on Saturday when they faced off with host-Richmond for their second dual of the weekend.
 
In the dives, Read and O'Donnell paced the Dukes once again at the top against the Spiders. Read won the one-meter dive with a score of 296.10. O'Donnell nabbed the top honors in the three-meter dive with a score of 280.20.
 
In the pool, Scholer won the 100-yard backstroke for the Dukes against the Spiders with a final time of 57.02 seconds, while Reagan Linkous hit the wall second at 57.28 seconds. Linkous also went on to win the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:02.82.
 
Mele once again won the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:06.20, edging out Sara Greene of Richmond.
 
Menzer topped her time in the 200-yard breaststroke from the day prior and hit the wall in 2:23.14 to win the event versus Richmond. Menzer was also victorious in the 400-yard IM when she clocked in at 4:31.42 to win her heat.
 
Egan was the top-Duke in the pool in the 500-yard freestyle. She completed the event in 5:05.52 to win the event for Duquesne.
 
The Dukes return to competition next weekend, Oct. 29-30 when they travel to Geneva, Ohio and the site of the 2023 A-10 Championships, the SPIRE Institute, for the A-10 Invite. Duquesne will dual with Oakland, Cleveland State, St. Bonaventure and George Mason over the course of the two-day event.