Morgantown, W.Va. – The Duquesne University swimming & diving team traveled to Morgantown, W.Va., to battle in a tri-meet with the host Mountaineers and Villanova on Saturday morning, inside the Peak Health Aquatic Center at Mylan Park. The Dukes dropped a 184.50 – 115.50 decision to the Wildcats while falling 169.50 – 130.50 to West Virginia.

Senior Haley Scholer paced Duquesne on Saturday, taking home four medals, including a pair of golds. She tallied her first gold in the 100-yard backstroke, when she touched the wall at 54.77 before collecting a first-place finish in the 200 backstroke, with a time of 1:59.18. In the 200 IM, Scholer took home silver by clocking in a final time of 2:03.16 before swimming the first leg of the 200-yard medley relay, which took second (1:42.98). Junior Sydney Severini, freshman Ashley Freel, and classmate Kaitlyn Connors rounded out the 200 medley relay.

Severini would capture another gold for Duquesne, clocking in a time of 2:16.56 in the 200-yard breaststroke. Connors registered a silver and bronze medal to her resume, tying for second place in the 50-yard free with a time of 23.50. In the 100 free, she touched the wall at 51.69 to take home third. Junior Katie Simpson also competed in the same event, finishing in fifth (52.49). Freshman Sierra Snow registered a time of 2:00.03 in the 200-yard back, to finish in second behind Scholer.

Senior Orla Egan, freshman Jess Burns, and Freel all recorded third place finishes for the Dukes. Egan kicked things off for Duquesne in the 1650 freestyle, recoding a time of 17:05.00. Burns took bronze in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:03.81 while Freel posted a time of 54.93 in the 100-yard fly. Severini would finish in fourth behind Burns in the 100-yard breast with a time of 1:04.20.

Off the boards, junior Ashley Felistky led the Dukes with a pair of medals. In the one-meter dive, she totaled a score of 253.86 to finish in second place. Felitsky would follow that performance with a final score of 253.55 in the three-meter dive to be tabbed third. Freshman Brianne Dempsey finished in seventh in the one-meter with a score of 233.85 while classmate Josie Festa was tabbed ninth (221.65).

The 400-yard freestyle relay team of sophomore Lexi Sundgren, Egan, freshman Rachel Howard, and Connors concluded the meet for the Dukes, placing fourth with a time of 3:32.23. Howard also finished in fifth in the 100-yard fly (55.74) while senior Kendra Joachim took home fifth in the 500-yard freestyle (4:59.48).

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"Overall, I was pleased with our performances," head coach David Sheets said. "While it's always nice to walk away with a win, this time of year is more about executing our races, focusing on the process, and showing resilience after a poor performance. The win itself doesn't matter as much as the growth we're seeing. Regardless of today's outcome, I'm pleased with where we are and excited about where we're headed. We'll keep focusing on the little things that will make a big difference come February."

UP NEXT
Duquesne returns to action when it competes in the Western PA Invite on Friday, Jan. 31 through Saturday, Feb. 1, hosted by Carnegie Mellon.