This Saturday, the Georgetown swimming and diving team prepares for its meet against crosstown rival George Washington after a strong showing at its first meet of the year at James Madison.

The Jan. 14 contest against JMU, Virginia Military Institute and American University was the first meet of the semester for the Blue and Gray, who were fresh off their training trip to Puerto Rico.

The men’s swimming and diving team beat VMI (194.5- 99.50) but was edged out by American (152-142). The women’s team defeated both VMI (248-28) and American (197.5-98.5) but was bested byJMU (175-113).

The depth of talent on the men’s team was clear as 15 different swimmers and divers finished in the top three of 16 different events. Several of these swimmers — junior Paul Quincy, sophomore Christian Kilgore and freshmen Michael Ng and William Lawler — had multiple top-three finishes.

Quincy finished second in both the 200-yard freestyle and the 500 freestyle. Kilgore also came away with a pair of seconds in the 100 breaststroke and in the 200 IM. Ng enjoyed similar success, earning second place finishes in both the 100 backstroke and in the 100-yard butterfly. Lawler placed first in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:00.91 and helped the men’s 200 medley relay to a first-place finish. Freshman diver Bryan Dorames also put up points for the Blue and Gray by earning a second-place finish in the 3-meter diving competition and a first place finish in the 1m.

The women’s team finished the meet in style, winning three of the last four events. Sophomore Lauren Opatrny finished first in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:09.25, junior Sarah Chiles took the number one spot backstroke with a time of 2:09.25, junior Sarah Chiles took the number one spot in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:18.41 and freshman Casey Bandman earned a first-place finish in the 200-yard IM in 2:15.37. The women’s team wrapped up the meet by taking first and second in the 200 freestyle relay.

The Hoyas will need a strong effort to beat George Washington at their home pool. The GWUwomen’s team is coming off a couple of recent losses, but they still topped the GU women’s team in the Potomac relays in September. The GWU men’s swimming team also defeated the Hoyas at the Potomac Relays; the Colonials finished in third place and the Hoyas in fifth.

The Big East Championship meet is less than a month away, so the Hoyas must perform well in order to go into the conference meet with confidence.

Saturday’s meet starts at 11 a.m at GW’s Smith Center Pool.