Women's Swimming Pre-Championship Webcast 

There is only one undefeated program in the history of the Capital Athletic Conference – the University of Mary Washington women's swimming.  The Eagles have won all 24 conference championship meet titles, dating back to the first year of conference competition in 1991.  Several other programs have won a lot, but no other program is 24-for-24.

Mary Washington, with several returning CAC gold medalists in the 2015 lineup, will look to extend that streak this weekend (Feb. 20-22), when the six-team CAC championship meet is held at St. Mary's (Md.).  UMW was the unanimous pick of the CAC coaches to win the title in the conference's preseason poll (announced Oct. 24, 2014).

The Eagles scored 1,032 points in the 2014 championship, winning the crown over the second-place host Seahawks by 496 points.  It was the second-straight year UMW scored more than 1,000 points in the CAC Championship meet.

St. Mary's has finished second in the championship standings seven-straight years, but the challengers from Marymount, Salisbury and York have taken turns closing the gap in the standings in the past few years. 

In 2014, only 126 points separated SMC (536 points), Marymount (444 points) and York (410 points).  The Spartans were picked in the preseason coaches poll to slip past St. Mary's into second place at the 2015 championships.

Salisbury (332 points) and Frostburg State (146 points) have also shown improved times and expect to impact the final team standings this season.  According to the coaches poll, it'll be a close battle for the second-thru-fifth positions between the Saints, Seahawks, Sea Gulls and Spartans.

The action begins Friday (2/20) and continues with two sessions per day (10 a.m. trials and 6 p.m. finals) through Sunday night (2/22).  Prior to Sunday evening's final competitions, the annual tribute to the seniors from each team will take place, beginning at 5:30 p.m.

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

FROSTBURG STATE heads into the CAC Championships anchored by junior Kaitlyn Donch and freshman Macey Nitchie. Donch, a crucial part of the 200-meter medley relay that set a school record at last year's championships for the second-straight year, and Nitchie look to make it three years in a row with the help of junior Maci Quintanilla and senior Jaclyn Franzak. Individually, Donch comes into the conference championships with nine victories and five runner-up finishes. She is currently ranked 2^nd in the conference in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:09.57), 3^rd in the 200-meter breaststroke (2:32.49) and 7^th in the 1650-meter freestyle (19:38.80).With at least one win in each meet she's swam and a team-high 13 total victories, Nitchie is ranked 5^th in the 200-meter freestyle (1:58.85), 7^th in the 100-meter freestyle (55.37), and 10^th in the 50-meter freestyle (25.71).

MARY WASHINGTON will look to continue its historic run of success in the CAC Championships, as the Eagles are looking for their 25th consecutive league crown this weekend. The Eagles are the only team in any sport in CAC history to capture every league championship since the league's inception. The women will rely on its great depth at the championships, with returning CAC champions Stephanie Hallock, Katie Fago, and Abby Cox heading a group that won every race in last year's meet, a first in league meet history.

MARYMOUNT head coach Mike Clark returns four of his five All-Capital Athletic Conference performers from the 2013-14 campaign.  Casey Thomas, Bridget Wunderly, Hannah Del Signore and Isabella Blecha combined to garner a total of six All-CAC awards at the league championships last year – leading the Saints to a fourth place finish overall.  Several strong freshmen, most notably Morgan Alston and Kristen Kilroy, look to continue their strong rookie seasons at the championship event.

ST. MARY'S put together a solid 2014-15 campaign, notching its fourth 10-win season in the last five years. The Seahawks look forward to carrying this momentum into this weekend's CAC championship meet. The team's six all-conference performers, seniors Kelsey Abernathy, Hannah Hafey, Elaina Kohles, and Brooke Raab and juniors Cara Machlin and Zoe McIlmail, have been solid and consistent performers for St. Mary's and will be counted upon to lead the team this weekend as they look to challenge the meet's top contenders.

SALISBURY enters the CAC Championships with a bevy of experienced swimmers and some talented newcomers. Sophomore Victoria Radcliffe picked up right where she left off last season and is having another record breaking year. Radcliffe, who was the first CAC Athlete of the Week this season, broke the Maggs Physical Activities Center pool record in the 400-meter individual medley and has earned 14 first-place finishes on the season. Another standout on this year is freshman Bizu Baldinazzo. Baldinazzo has seen a lot of success in her freshman campaign, notching six wins and seven second-place finishes on the season. Sophomore Nicole Marders is another newcomer to the team who has shined this year, capturing four golds and seven silvers in the butterfly and freestyle events. Sophomore Maggie Deering has competed at a high level during her sophomore year, recording four wins and three second-place finishes in the backstroke events.

YORK brings a very young team to the 2015 CAC Championships as head coach Erin Kurtz is excited to see how her team will perform at championships. Kurtz will turn to seniors Courtney Dacheux and Sammy Greenwald to lead a strong group of freshman who will have a chance to make a splash for York. Freshmen Kacey Banks, Brianna Blackwell, Kate McConaghy, Taylor Witte, and Sara Zalkind give York a dynamic group of newcomers who will be competing in their first ever conference championship meet.