Ocala, Fla. – The Duquesne University swimming and diving team continued its competition at the National Invitational Championships on Friday at the Florida Aquatics Swimming & Training facility in Ocala, Florida.

After two days of events, the Dukes currently hold 20th place in the women's standings with a total of 126 points. Akron leads the field with 442 points, followed closely by Kentucky with 435 and Rice with 408 to round out the top three.

Senior Haley Scholer led the Dukes on the second day of competition, securing a fifth-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke. After recording a prelims time of 54.28, she improved in the finals, touching the wall at 53.97. Scholer also contributed to the 800-yard freestyle relay team alongside sophomore Lexi Sundgren, freshman Sierra Snow, and senior Orla Egan, as they posted a time of 7:22.21 to place seventh.

Freshman Ashley Freel competed in the B Final of the 100-yard butterfly, finishing 20th with a time of 55.49. The Dukes also saw action in the 200-yard medley relay, where Scholer teamed up with freshman Jess Burns, Freel, and freshman Kaitlyn Connors. The quartet clocked in at 1:42.89, securing a 23rd-place finish to wrap up day two.

Duquesne had two divers in action on Friday, with junior Ashley Felitsky leading the way. She placed 17th out of 40 competitors in the one-meter dive, earning a final score of 239.75, and later recorded a score of 194.95 in the three-meter dive. Freshman Brianne Dempsey also competed in the one-meter event, finishing with a score of 208.25.

In the swimming preliminaries, sophomore Lexi Sundgren clocked in at 1:52.18 in the 200-yard freestyle, while senior Orla Egan followed closely behind at 1:52.90. Freshman Sierra Snow recorded a time of 55.94 in the 100-yard backstroke, and junior Sydney Severini battled in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing in 1:03.13. In the same event, freshman Jess Burns posted a time of 1:04.51, while freshman Rachel Howard touched the wall at 55.96 in the 100-yard butterfly.

UP NEXT
Duquesne wraps up competition at the National Invitational Championships on Saturday, March 15, with the prelims scheduled for 9:30 a.m. and the finals at 6:00 p.m.