Both the men's and the women's swimming and diving teams reached first place in their tri-meet against two Division II teams at the University of Kentucky on Jan. 21. The Eagles won 23 of the 29 total events.

The men beat Transylvania University 147-85 and Wittenberg University 147-81, while the women beat Transylvania 147-86 and Wittenberg 146-82. The men (6-2) and women (8-2) both won their fifth meet in a row, dating back to Dec. 3.

"Our performance shows we're strong enough from training," Head Coach Jon Howell said. "Overall, the meet went real well."

On the men's side, the Eagles received a strong performance from freshman Keith Diggs. Diggs reached first place in the men's 1,650-yard freestyle event with a time of 16:30.08, qualifying him for the NCAA National Cup. He also won the 100-yard backstroke event with a time of 53.09.

Emory had similar success in the women's 1,650-yard freestylewith freshman Kate Gunning taking first place in 17:42.50.

"The 1,650 was definitely a challenging event," Gunning said. "It was harder than I expected it would be, but my team was cheering me on and supporting me through all 66 painful laps."

Junior Alex Smith won the women's 400-yard individual medley in 4:34.00, while junior Tim Newton took first place in the same event on the men's side, clocking in at 4:10.56.

"The meet was another good step forward for us," Newton said. "The freshman class, for both the women and the men, is doing a great job of stepping up to race and making big contributions to the team at meets."

Emory also kept Transylvania and Wittenberg at bay in the 200-yard freestyle. For the men, sophomore Ben Johnson, junior Andrew Callam and sophomore Weathers Bolt swept the top three places, respectively.

In the women's 200-yard freestyle, sophomore Randi Palmer, freshman Lara Ortega and freshman Molly Engelmeiser took first through third.

Freshman Sara Hostalet won the women's 100-yard freestyle event with a time of 54.04, and Callam won the men's event in 47.66 seconds.

The Eagles also dominated the short freestyle events. Sophomores Cary Burke and Steve Inacker took the top two spots in the 50-yard freestyle. Callam won the 100-yard freestyle in 47. 66 seconds.

On the diving front, senior Mike Klein won the 1- and 3-meter events, while senior Lisa Parton won the same events for the women.

Emory continues action Saturday as the Eagles swim at NCAA Division I competitor Georgia Tech at noon.

"Our goal is to get out there and compete, no matter what the circumstances are," Howell said.

The Eagles' meet tomorrow will mark their final tune-up for the UAA Championships. That meet will take place at home from Feb. 8 to 11.