The Washington University swimming teams coasted to a pair of victories at the Wheaton Invitational over the weekend, with two individuals and two relay teams setting new school records at the meet.

The women won 12 events and the men 11, as each team outpaced its nearest competitor by a comfortable margin—the women scored 1,171 points to the runner-up’s 658, while the men tallied 1,151 points to the runner-up’s 683.5.

Mary Richardson | Student Life

A Wash. U. swimming & diving team member swims the backstroke during the Bears’ November 2014 meet versus University of Chicago. This weekend, the men’s and women’s teams took first at the Wheaton Invitational.

The two teams also combined to place 20 individual swimmers and eight relays in B-cut territory, which can help Wash. U. qualify more athletes for the Division III championship meet.

For the NCAA championships, swimmers who have reached an A-cut time during the year qualify automatically, while those who have achieved a B-cut can be invited to swim on the national stage.

A deep stable of swimmers capable of meeting “B” times provides greater depth for a team with high national meet aspirations, head coach Brad Shively said.

“Having two or three standout athletes is great and it certainly gives you some opportunities, but you’re a better team if you have more people…because it could potentially give you more opportunities at the NCAA championships,” Shively explained.

The Bears filled the pool with athletes reaching B-cut times in multiple events, with sophomore Nicole Zanolli, who registered five B-cut times across the freestyle, backstroke and medley categories, leading the way.

Seniors Katie Anderson and Amanda Stadermann also starred for Wash. U. by setting school records in the 200 backstroke and 200 butterfly, respectively. Anderson rounded out her performance by helping the Bears’ 200 medley relay to another all-time best.

For the men, junior Michael Lagieski tied his own school record in the 100 breaststroke and contributed the second leg of the Bears’ school record in the 200 medley relay.

Shively was particularly excited about the eight qualifying relays—four from each of the women’s and men’s teams—which he said showed off the team’s depth this season.

Even for the relay teams beyond the top groupings, he said, “Some of those athletes performed at a level that made you think they can very much be a part of our [first- and second-team] relays. That speaks volumes to the depth…when you have to make tough decisions about who’s going to be a part of relays.”

Junior MariMac Collins was a member of all four women’s relay teams that earned B-cut times and also chipped in with a qualifying time in the 200 freestyle. Junior Justin Morrell mirrored that precise feat on the men’s side, and senior Reed Dalton posted two individual B-cut times in addition to participating in all four qualifying men’s relays.

Although the teams started off slow on Friday, Shively said, the Bear swimmers built up their lead with winning times in the invitational’s later sessions, which should prove a good preparatory experience for the multi-day conference and national championship meets next semester.

For now, though, he said, the Bears will take time to rest for finals and winter break before they return to the pool on Jan. 9 for the WU Invitational in Millstone Pool.