Wellesley Swimming & Diving Sweeps NESCAC Foes Bates and Conn. College

WELLESLEY, Mass. – The Wellesley College swimming and diving team posted wins over Connecticut College and Bates College in a double dual meet on Saturday afternoon in Chandler Pool. The Blue came out on top of an exciting battle against Conn. 158-155, while winning comfortably against Bates, 205-108. In the men's meet, Conn. defeated Bates, 219-85.

Today's wins finish the regular season for the Blue with a record of 9-2, the most victories for Wellesley since the 2007-08 season. The Camels improve to 8-3 on the women's side, 7-3 on the men's, while Bates slips to 3-6 for the women and 3-4 for the men.

Wellesley won seven total events, five swimming and both diving events. The Blue also posted 13 combined second and third place finishes, to seal the victory.

The meet against Conn. came down to the final event of the day. Wellesley held a narrow lead going into the 200-free relay and needed to touch at least second for the victory. In a tight race, the Blue relay of first-year Emily Sotomayor, sophomore Monica Gates, junior Mariam Amirkhanashvili and first-year Dorothy Ren, was able to accomplish that goal, hitting the wall in 1:41.49, taking second and sealing the team victory.

Wellesley got a huge scoring boost in the diving events, taking one-two-three in both the 1-meter and the 3-meter boards. On the 1-meter, junior Hayley Goydan finished first (261.70) and sophomore Gabby Cooper-Vespa took second (257.40), both surpassing NCAA standards. On the 3-meter, Goydan again qualified for NCAA's, hitting a 268.25, while Cooper-Vespa scored a 242.00. Senior Kathryn Goffin earned Wellesley third place points on both boards to round out the diving action.

Wellesley also collected multiple points from the swimming tandem of Ren and first-year Charlotte Harris, who each earned two victories. Ren won the 50-back (26.81) and the 100-back (59.78), while also taking second in the 200-IM (2:15.08). Her time in the 50-back re-established her own school record. Harris was victorious in the 100-breast (1:09.00) and the 200-free (1:58.68), while taking second in the 50-breast in 31.87.

Blue first-year Ieva Galinyte was Wellesley's other individual winner on the day. She touched first in 500-free with a time of 5:15.47, and was also the Blue's top finisher in the 1000-free (11:01.95).

Four other Wellesley swimmers earned third place finishes at the event, led by Amirkhanashvili who touched third in the 50-free (25.82), the 50-fly (27.94), and the 100-free (54.90).  Junior Gabriela Kovacikova earned third in two events, the 50-back (29.12) and the 100-back (1:02.49), while sophomore Kendra Waters swam a 31.88 in the 50-breast and first-year Theresa Mitchell went 1:03.81 in the 100-fly.

Wrapping up the highlights for Wellesley, the Blue's 800-medley relay team of Kovacikova, Harris, Mitchell and junior Anne Hamilton took second in 9:02.87.

Conn. College was paced by junior Julia Pielock and first-year Sam Piece who each recorded multiple victories for the Camel women. Pielock won the 50-free (24.16), 50-fly (27.25) and the 100-free (53.67). Also grabbing victories for the Conn. women were sophomore Esther Mehesz who won the 1000-free (10:46.67) and first-year Kelsey Ewing who touched first in the 400-IM (4:48.06).

The Camels' women swept both relay events, as the 800-medley relay team of first-year Jessica Cronin, Mehesz, first-year Rachel Wilson and Pierce combined for a time of 8:59.15. In the 200-free relay, the team of Wilson, first-year Alexandra Mahaffy, first-year Emma Rotner and Pielock, touched the wall first, in a time of 1:40.64.

For the Bates women, senior Catherine Sparks was the lone winner, taking 50-breast in 31.03. Also for the Bobcats, first-year Whitney Paine took second in both the 50-back (28.53) and the 100-back (1:00.96).

In the men's meet, Conn. won 14 of 15 swimming events, while Bates won one swim event and both diving events.

Pacing the Camels was Sam Gill who recorded three victories, and Drew Andre and Bo Martin who each recorded two wins. Gill won the 50-fly (22.79), the 100-fly (49.83) and the 100-free (46.60), Andre won the 50-free (21.81) and the 200-free (1:47.00), while Martin was the winner in the 100-breast (1:00.33) and the 1000-free (9:57.97).

The Camel men wrapped up their meet with sweeps of the relay events. In the 800-medley relay, first-years Loring Bowen and Dylan Steiner, junior Joe Gibson, and Andre finished in 8:07.86. In the 200-free relay, Gill, first-year Joey Blair, Bowen, and sophomore Patrick McGinnis, touched in 1:27.34.

For the Bates men, first-year Porter Harrast and senior Travis Jones each recorded diving victories. Porter took first in the 1-meter (236.35) and second in the 3-meter (235.25), while Jones won the 3-meter (239.65) and placed second in the 1-meter (226.50). Also for the Bobcats, sophomore Andrew Briggs won the 50-breast in 27.82.

Before the meet, Wellesley honored the class of 2013 from all schools, which included Blue seniors, Goffin, Karina Chung, and Shaheen Rangwalla.  

All three teams now look ahead to their respective conference championships. Wellesley will compete in the NEWMAC Championships, February 15th, 16th, and 17th at MIT, while Bates and Conn. will head to Bowdoin College for the NESCAC Championships, February 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th.