Women's Swimming Pre-Championship Webcast 

At last year’s CAC Championship, Mary Washington became the only team across all conference sports to win the team title in each of the 25 years of the CAC’s existence, capturing 16 of the 18 events to run away with the crown. The fight for second place was one of the closest ever, as just 59 points separated second-place Marymount from fourth-place Salisbury, with St. Mary’s sandwiched in between.

Mary Washington returns several CAC gold medalists to the 2016 lineup, including former Athletes of the Year Abby Cox and Stephanie Hallock. The Eagles will look to continue their winning streak this weekend (Feb. 19-21), when the six-team CAC championship meet is held at St. Mary's.

UMW was the unanimous pick of the CAC coaches to win the title in the conference's preseason poll (announced Oct. 16, 2015).

The action begins Friday (2/19) and continues with two sessions per day through Sunday afternoon (2/21). 

Here is a brief look at each team heading into the 2015 championship:

FROSTBURG STATE women’s swim team heads in the CAC Championships anchored by sophomore Macey Nitchie and freshman Maddie Weinberger. The pair will contribute on both relays and individual events for the Bobcats. Nitchie enters the championship behind two school-records and 20 individual wins this season. She currently ranks second in the CAC in 50-yard freestyle (24.83), the 100-yard freestyle (53.74) and the 200-yard freestyle (1:56.91). Weinberger will also be a top point-scorer for the Bobcats, she holds two Bobcat school records and has posted 20 individual wins this season. She currently holds the top spot in the CAC in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:28.41) and third fastest time in the 100-yard distance (1:08.08). The 200-yard medley relay team of freshman Emily Turner, Weinberger, senior Chrissy Alessandrini and Nitchie is ranked third in the CAC with a time of 1:55.46.

MARY WASHINGTON will look to extend its conference record streak of 25 straight CAC titles with their 26th straight championship this weekend. The Eagles welcome back last year's CAC swimmer of the year in Steph Hallock, as well as previous winner Abby Cox. Also back are defending all-CAC selections Katie Fago, Hannah Hagy, Shannon Coryell, Anna Corley, and Megan Murphy.

MARYMOUNT capped off a successful regular season with back-to-back victories in the final weekend of meets, taking wins over Frostburg State and York. Sophomore Morgan Alston has pieced together an impressive second season with the Saints, registering 14 first-place victories so far this season in various different events. Countless swimmers on the Saints' roster will look to contribute points, while seniors Taylor Hood and Jessica Hester look to score some top finishes after swimming well in their final seasons.

ST. MARY'S will once again host the CAC Championships at its Aquatics Center in St. Mary's City, Md. The Seahawks will aim to improve upon last year's third-place finish at the conference meet after posting a 3-2 CAC mark and 6-5 overall dual meet record this season. Key returners for St. Mary's include All-CAC performer Cara Machlin along with fellow senior Zoe McIlmail. 

SALISBURY is gearing up for the CAC Championships with expectations set high. The women of Salisbury have gotten scoring from a wide variety of swimmers. As usual suspects Victoria Radcliffe and Bizu Baldinazzo continue to pick up victories, Layne Gable, Madison Tinus, Nicki Schult, and Hannah Schlegel among others have placed well in events recently, gearing up for strong performances in the championships.

YORK enters the 2016 championships looking to improve on its fifth place finish at last year’s championships. First-year head coach Greg Doyle will count on another first year Spartan as freshman Maddy Mann has had a fantastic freshman year as he has won 19 individual races during the course of the year. The freestyle specialist should have the opportunity to compete for a number of top finishes at the championships. Freshman Andrea Sturgis is another freshman who has made an impact on the Spartan squad and will be counted on to collect points for York. Doyle will count on sophomores Kacey Banks, Brianna Blackwell, Samantha Hay, Kate McConaghy, Danielle Werner, Taylor Witte, and Sara Zalkind to perform well to push York up the CAC standings.