The Emory University Swimming and Diving Teams got off to a strong start to the abbreviated University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships, including an individual championship from senior Sarah Greene in the women's one-meter dive, during the first day of action at the meet on Friday.

Greene won the one-meter dive with a score of 464.00 points, breaking her own school record in the event and clearing the NCAA qualifying score of 395 points by a wide margin.   It marked her third career all-UAA (top-three) finish in the one-meter dive, and her first career conference championship in the event.  Also earning all-UAA honors in the women's one-meter dive were runner-up Ashlie Pankonin of New York University (410 points) and third-place Danielle Neu of Rochester (395.85 points).

The University of Chicago's Matt Staab claimed the UAA Championship in the men's three-meter dive with a score of 534.80, while Chicago's Tony Restaino claimed second (502.05) and NYU's Austin Blease (489.10 points) took home third.

While all the divers were able to attend the meet in Atlanta, allowing for conference champions to be decided on site, the UAA Champions and team scores in the swimming events will have to wait to be revealed until after the satellite meet at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio is completed.

Due to weather conditions in the Southeast, three teams – Case Western Reserve, the University of Rochester and the University of Chicago – could not make it to Atlanta for the meet.  Those three teams will be competing on Saturday and Sunday, with the results of the two meets being combined to determine the conference champions.  Combined results will be released on EmoryAthletics.com later Sunday night or Monday morning.

While no official honors can be handed out, a number of Eagles put themselves into a position to earn all-UAA honors with by finishing in the top-three of the finals of their respective events on Friday, including event wins in eight individual events and six relays.

Emory's 800-yard freestyle relay broke the conference record in the event, as freshman Marissa Bergh, senior Courtney McDermott, sophomore Carolyn Bonfield and junior Nancy Larson finished first with a time of 7:29.02.  The Eagles also finished first in the 200-yard freestyle relay, with freshman Claire Liu, Bergh, junior Dana Holt and Larson winning the event in a time of 1:33.83.

Earlier in the day, the Emory women also won the 400-yard medley relay, with sophomoreEllie Thompson, sophomore Elizabeth Aronoff, freshman Marcela Sanchez-Aizcorbe and Larson swimming a time of 3:46.30 in the timed finals.

Freshman Annelise Kowalsky made a splash in her UAA debut, winning the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:03.31, and the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:02.94, setting a conference-meet record in each event.  The Eagles would go on to sweep the top-three spots in each event, with senior Sadie Nennig placing second (2:04.82) and senior Kylie McKenzie third (2:06.17) in the 200-yard individual medley, and sophomore Elizabeth Aronoff (1:03.15 in the preliminaries) and McKenzie (1:03.73 in the preliminaries) taking second and third, respectively, in the 100-yard breatststroke.

Nennig would go on to win the 200-yard backstroke after swimming a time of 2:01.27 in the preliminaries, while sophomore Ellie Thompson claimed third in the finals, after recording a mark of 2:01.04 in the preliminaries.  McDermott added a first-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle (4:56.82), while junior Megan Beach placed second with a time of 4:58.57.  Larson rounded out the individual first-place finishes for Emory during day one, winning the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 50.81 seconds, while Bergh took home second (51.57 in the preliminaries) and Liu third (51.88 seconds). 

In the 200-yard butterfly, two Eagles are in position to earn all-UAA honors, with junior Nina Zook placing second (2:04.61) and freshman Marcela Sanchez-Aizcorbe third (2:05.58). 

The Emory men opened the Friday night finals section with a UAA record-setting performance in the 200-yard freestyle, as the combination of senior Ryan Bass, senior Jake Stephens, freshman David Tao and senior Ross Spock won the event with a time of 1:21.91.  Bass claimed an individual victory with a win in the 100-yard freestyle (45.59 seconds), while Spock won the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:49.67.

Emory also closed out the first day with a conference record-setting relay performance, as the 800-yard freestyle relay team of freshman Mitchell Cooper, sophomore Eagan Zettlemoyer, freshman Christian Baker and sophomore Matt Kuhlik won the race with a mark of 6:44.34.

Sophomore Andrew Wilson picked up the win in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:52.27.  He also claimed second in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 55.85 seconds, while junior Eric Ruggieri finished third with a mark of 56.39 seconds.  Other Eagles in position to earn all-UAA honors with top-three finishes on day one included sophomore Eagan Zettlemoyer in the 500-yard freestyle (second, 4:28.36), junior Colin Heil in the 200-yard backstroke (third, 1:50.14 in the preliminaries), freshman Hayes Burdette-Sapp (second, 45.99 seconds) and Stephens (third, 46.20 seconds) in the 100-yard freestyle, and senior Darrell Eacret (third, 1:50.84) in the 200-yard butterfly.

Emory also won the Men's 400-yard medley relay earlier in the day, with Spock, Wilson, Bass and junior Hayden Baker finishing in a time of 3:18.18, a new UAA record.

The Atlanta portion of the meet will conclude on Saturday, with the swimming preliminaries starting at 9:00 AM, and the finals slated for a 5:30 PM start.  Events to be contested in the pool on Saturday include the 400-yard individual medley, the 100-yard butterfly, the 200-yard freestyle, the 100-yard backstroke, the 200-yard breaststroke, the 50-yard freestyle, the 200-yard medley relay, the 1,650-yard freestyle, and the 400-yard freestyle relay.  The women's three-meter dive and men's one-meter dive will also be decided on Saturday, with diving preliminaries starting at 11:45 AM, with finals to follow starting no later than 5:30 PM.