Blue Swimming & Diving Falls to Conn, Bates

NEW LONDON, Conn. -- The Wellesley College swimming and diving team fell to a pair of non-conference opponents today, swimming a double-dual meet at Connecticut College. The Blue fell 175-105 at the hands of the host Camels, and also lost to Bates by a score of 183-111. 

Wellesley's dual meet record slips to 4-3, while Conn improves to 11-1 and Bates moves to 8-2. 

The Blue were without the talents of a pair of top swimmers, but still recorded three victories and 12 top-three finishes. Leading the way for Wellesley were sophomore Dorothy Ren and senior Keelin Nave, who accounted for the Blue victories. 

Ren won a pair of events on the day, while Nave added a win of her own. Ren topped the field in both the 100-back (59.60) and the 100-fly (58.50), while Nave won the 200-fly (2:09.37). In addition to her victory, Nave also recorded a second place finish in the 200-free (1:55.95) and a third place finish in the 100-free (54.08).

First-year Maddie Stern boosted the Blue's point total with a pair of second place finishes at the event. She recorded a score of 208.65 on the 1-meter board, and then hit a 211.65 on the 3-meter.

Sophomores Charlotte Harris and Ieva Galinyte and first-year Leah Furman rounded out the top-three finishers for Wellesley. Harris collected a pair of third place performances, finishing the 100-breast in a time of 1:09.66 and swimming the 200-breast in 2:32.50. Galinyte was third in the 400-IM (;4:53.26) and also hit a fourth-place time of 5:17.16 in the 500-free. Furman was Wellesley's top finisher in the 1000-free, taking third overall in 10:50.60.

Other highlights for the Blue, included top-five finishes from senior Emma Mrkonic, and sophomores Erin Yang and Theresa Mitchell. Mrkonic was fifth in the 200-back (2:15.67), Yang was fourth in the 100-back (1:11.42) and fifth in the 200-breast (2:36.39), while Mitchell was fourth in the 200-fly (2:15.35). 

In the relay events, Wellesley 200-medley team led the way with a third place finish. Mrkonic, Harris, Ren, and Nave teamed up to record a time of 1:51.72.

Wellesley returns to the pool on February 20th, competing in the 2014 NEWMAC Championships. The four-day event is being hosted by WPI.