University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
ECU Quad-Meet
11/07/2026 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Greenville, N.C. — The University of Richmond swimming and diving team earned dual-meet victories over Georgia Southern and Campbell Saturday at the ECU Quad-Meet, highlighted by individual event wins from seniors Presley Baber and Molly Blanchard and multiple top-three finishes from the Spiders' freshman class.
Richmond defeated Georgia Southern 225-68 and Campbell 242-48 while falling to host East Carolina 211-86 at Minges Natatorium.
Baber captured the 200-yard freestyle in 1:53.79, edging East Carolina's Ava Vercollone by just two-hundredths of a second in one of the closest races of the meet. Baber added a runner-up finish in the 100 freestyle, touching in 51.73.
Blanchard provided Richmond's other individual swimming victory, winning the 200 individual medley in 2:06.11, nearly a second and a half ahead of East Carolina's Mariia Shyrikova (2:07.58). Blanchard also finished fifth in the 200 breaststroke (2:22.44).
Freshman Ellie McNamara recorded two runner-up finishes, placing second in the 200 butterfly (2:07.49) and 500 freestyle (5:07.97).
Fellow freshman Melia Eckman took second in the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.03, just ahead of junior teammate Lena Amare, who placed third in 24.12. Freshman Maris Marchione added a runner-up finish in the 100 butterfly (58.08), while freshman Ansley Neff placed third in the 200 backstroke (2:04.91).
In the distance events, freshman Dylan Briones finished third in the 1,000 freestyle (10:55.25), while senior Kaitlyn Bauer joined McNamara among the top three in the 500 freestyle, finishing third in 5:11.53.
Freshman Gia DiMaggio led Richmond's divers with third-place finishes on both boards. DiMaggio scored 241.30 points in the 3-meter competition and 235.10 points on the 1-meter board. Junior Addie Grainger also earned a top-five finish on the 1-meter board with 225.35 points.
Richmond also recorded multiple top-three finishes in the relays. The 200 medley relay team of Hannah Wieczorek, Gabbie Primiano, Amare and Baber placed second in 1:45.20. The Spiders closed the meet with second- and third-place finishes in the 200 freestyle relay. Amare, Wieczorek, Eckman and Baber combined for a time of 1:36.13 to take second, while Sulia Miller, Lydia Sturgeon, Neff and Julia Cort placed third in 1:36.52.
Richmond returns to action Nov. 18-21 at the Patriot Invitational in Fairfax, Va. Preliminary heats begin each day at 10 a.m., with finals scheduled for 6 p.m.
