After their first win in dual-meet action since starting the program up again in 2006, the Commodores' swimming and diving team will travel to Knoxville on Friday to face Tennesssee and Arkansas.

The Vanderbilt swimming and diving team defeated Centre College 127-106 and Rhodes College 176-43 in a double-dual last Saturday at the Centennial Sportsplex in Nashville. It was the program's first win in dual-meet action since the program was started up again in the winter of 2006.

"It is exciting for us," said head coach Jeremy Organ. "It is good to do it at home and have the girls see some success with our fans here."

Sophomore Leigh-Ann Axt set the tone for the Commodores Saturday as she cruised to a first-place finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:32.84, 40 seconds faster than the second place finisher.

The Kingwood, Texas, native also placed second in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 59.80. Five events later, Axt added to her list of achievements as she cruised to the 500-yard freestyle title with a time of 5:12.49, nearly 11 seconds faster than the second place competitor.

Sophomore Jennifer Molchan followed Axt's first-place finish with one of her own as she swam to finish the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:57.64.
Later in the meet, freshman Kelly Obranowicz picked up her second-straight 100-yard butterfly title with a time of 55.06. Obranowicz continued her strong fall season as she placed third in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.62. Freshman Zoe Cooper-Surma finished right behind Obranowicz with a time of 25.77.

Freshman Laura Dillon picked up where she left off two weeks ago as she placed second in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:16:25.
Freshmen Nicole Woodworth and Liz Asche swept the 1-meter dive as they finished first and second overall with scores of 239.40 and 198.08, respectively. The duo also picked up the top two finishes in the 3-meter dive, with Woodworth claiming the top honor with a score of 227.33.

Freshman Allie Voss picked up a first-place finish of her own in the 100-yard breaststroke by swimming to a time of 1:08.49.

The Commodores' 200-yard freestyle relay team of sophomore Christina Chao, sophomore Anna Fargo, Molchan and Obranowicz picked up the gold medal after recording an impressive time of 1:41:48.

After the meet, the Commodores' coach talked about how this can help the team gain some momentum heading into the conference season.

"Hopefully, it is the first two of many, many more," Organ said. "We've got a long road ahead of us, and we have to keep the focus on the end of the season and doing our best at the (Southeastern Conference meets) and getting better each week. It is a nice stepping stone, but we've definitely got a long way to go yet."