Hampton, Va. – The Duquesne swimming and diving team delivered a standout performance Friday at the Richmond Invitational at the Hampton Virginia Aquaplex, capturing first place with 791 points. The Dukes tallied 14 medal finishes, including four gold, three silver and seven bronze performances, while also making their mark in the 50-yard freestyle skins competition.

Duquesne finished ahead of host Richmond, which placed second with 682.50 points. George Mason followed in third with 610.50 points, while Davidson rounded out the standings with 524 points.

Freshman Lainey Sheets led the way with two individual gold medals, while juniors Kaitlyn Connors and Sierra Snow also captured event victories. Duquesne added podium finishes across the swimming events, relays, and diving boards.

Sheets opened her impressive day by winning the women's 400-yard individual medley in 4:22.84, edging Richmond's Lena Amare, who finished second in 4:23.00. The freshman returned to the top of the podium in the 100-yard freestyle, touching the wall in 51.96 seconds to secure her second gold medal of the meet.

Connors earned gold in the women's 200-yard freestyle, finishing in 1:52.86. Snow followed closely behind in 1:52.90, giving Duquesne a one-two finish in the event. Snow added another individual victory in the 200-yard backstroke, winning in 2:01.38. Sophomore Norah Kotnik joined her on the podium with a third-place finish in 2:04.80, giving Duquesne two of the event's top three finishers.

Freshman Anika Donovan earned silver in the women's 200-yard butterfly, posting a time of 2:07.84. Donovan paced a strong showing for the Dukes in the event, with freshman Maya Freeman finishing fourth in 2:09.53 and sophomore Kira Schrecongost taking fifth in 2:09.65.

On the diving boards, sophomore Elly Huron secured silver in the women's three-meter competition with a score of 228.25. Duquesne claimed two of the top three spots in the event, as sophomore Grace Hedger earned bronze with a score of 218.35. Junior Brianne Dempsey and senior EErin Castagnero added fourth and fifth-place finishes, respectively, giving the Dukes four divers among the top five.

Duquesne opened the meet with a bronze-medal performance in the women's 400-yard medley relay, finishing in 3:51.16. The Dukes also secured bronze in the women's 200-yard freestyle relay, clocking a time of 1:36.19 to place third behind Richmond and George Mason.

Junior Jess Burns contributed two individual bronze medals. The junior placed third in the women's 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 30.53 before earning another third-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke, touching the wall in 2:21.91. Junior Rachel Howard added another bronze medal in the women's 50-yard butterfly, finishing in 25.40 seconds.

Duquesne also turned in strong performances in the women's 50-yard freestyle skins competition. Connors won the opening round in 23.84 seconds, with sophomore Lucy Backus finishing second in 23.97 to give the Dukes the top two spots. Both swimmers continued to score in the following rounds, with Connors placing third in Round Two and Backus taking third in Round Three.

UP NEXT
Duquesne returns to competition at the Hampton Virginia Aquaplex on Saturday, Oct. 10, for the Richmond Duals, beginning at 10:00 a.m.