Buffalo, N.Y. – The Duquesne University swimming and diving team opened the spring portion of its schedule on Saturday afternoon, falling 165–135 to Buffalo at the Alumni Arena Natatorium & Dorsi Raynolds Pool.

The Dukes recorded 19 top-three finishes on the day, highlighted by eight gold medals. Duquesne opened the meet in the 200-yard medley relay, earning both silver and bronze finishes. The sophomore trio of Sierra Snow, Jess Burns, Ashley Freel, and freshman Lucy Backus placed second with a time of 1:45.67, while the team of freshman Norah Kotnik, senior Sydney Severini, sophomore Rachel Howard, and freshman Emily Kyre finished third at 1:47.65.

Sophomore Kaitlyn Connors delivered Duquesne's first gold medal in the 150-yard freestyle, touching the wall in 1:22.97. Connors added a third-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.45. The Dukes then swept the podium in the 100-yard backstroke, led by Snow's winning time of 57.09. Sophomore Caitlin Horning followed in second (58.47), with Kotnik securing third place at 59.17.

Burns kept her strong performance going in the 100-yard breaststroke, earning a silver medal with a time of 1:05.27. She later captured gold in the 150-yard breaststroke, touching the wall in 1:41.49. Freel added a second-place individual finish in the 150-yard butterfly with a time of 1:29.56 before claiming gold in the 100-yard butterfly at 56.55.

Backus led the Dukes in the 50-yard freestyle, taking first place with a time of 23.75, and followed with a silver medal in the 100-yard freestyle by clocking in at 52.79. In the 150-yard backstroke, Kotnik secured the top spot with a time of 1:30.97, narrowly edging Horning, who finished second at 1:31.06.

OFF THE BOARDS
Duquesne's diving team also competed on Saturday afternoon in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events. In the 1-meter, senior Ashley Felitsky led the Dukes with a fourth-place finish, posting a score of 242.64. Sophomore Brianne Dempsey followed with a score of 200.48, while junior Erin Castagnero (199.35) and freshmen Elly Huron (187.50) and Grace Hedger (164.10) also represented Duquesne.

QUOTABLE
"I was happy with how we performed today in the pool," head coach David Sheets said. "We had some really nice swims coming off a week and a half training camp.  We still have some work to do with some of our racing strategy and execution but overall it was a solid Saturday."

Felitsky again paced the Dukes in the 3-meter, earning a fifth-place finish with a score of 241.95. Dempsey placed seventh at 209.03, while Huron (205.20), Castagnero (192.68), and Hedger (189.68) rounded out the scoring for Duquesne.

QUOATABLE
"Buffalo has some great divers and served as good competition, but our girls held up and made some crucial corrections to their dives in competition," diving coach Alexa Gonczi said. "I feel confident they will only continue to improve throughout this second semester" 

Later in the meet, Snow kept the momentum going for the Dukes by capturing gold in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:06.16. In the 100-yard butterfly, Howard earned a third-place finish, touching the wall at 57.52. Kyre added another podium performance for Duquesne by placing third in the 200-yard IM at 2:09.41. Classmate Kira Schrecongost followed closely in fourth (2:11.27), while sophomore Surrena Luna finished fifth with a time of 2:12.86.


The meet concluded with the 400-yard freestyle relay, where the quartet of Snow, Connors, Freel, and Backus claimed first place with a time of 3:29.58.

UP NEXT
Duquesne returns to action next weekend, traveling to Huntington, W.Va., to face Marshall on Friday, Jan. 16, before competing in a tri-meet against the Herd and Bowling Green on Saturday, Jan. 17.