Swimming & Diving Opens 2015-16 Campaign at New England Invitational

WORCESTER, Mass. – Wellesley College swimming & diving opened the 2015-16 season on Saturday at the New England Invitational, hosted by WPI. The Blue recorded several top-times at the non-scoring event.

Wellesley's 200 Free Relay team turned in the highlight of the day, capturing first place in an event that featured 39 entries. Senior Charlotte Harris (Cincinnati, Ohio), sophomore Patricia Chen (Natick, Mass.), senior Ieva Galinyte (Irvine, Calif.) and first year Cathy Chen (Parsippany, N.J.) teamed to finish with a time of 1:40.71.

Cathy Chen continued on to post two more top-times in her collegiate debut, including a first place finish in the 50 Back and a second place finish in the 50 Free. Chen touched the wall in 28.25 to win the 50 Back, before finishing just under two seconds behind the first place time with a mark of 25.28 in the 50 Free.

Galinyte would also go on to add an individual first place time in the 500 Free and a second-place finish in the 200 Free. In the 500 Free, Galintye held on to take the event by a fraction of a second. In the 200 Free, she trailed only one other competitor in the event, from Division II Assumption College, finishing with a time of 1:59.03.

The senior would then team up with first year Sunny Chiang (Troy, Mich.), Harris and first year Karen Wang (Holmdel, N.J.), swimming the anchor free leg of the 400 Medley Relay as the Blue took second out of 31 entries with a time of 4:06.97.

Harris and Wang would also add top individual times in their respective strokes, as Harris took first place in the 100 Breaststroke with a time of 1:09.73 and Wang captured third in the 100 Fly in 1:00.60. Wang then went on to add a second place finish in the 200 IM with a time of 2:14.92.

Competing for the first time since last year's NCAA Championships, sophomore diver Maura Sticco-Ivins (Framingham, Mass.) finished first in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events. Sticco-Ivins recorded a score of 285.75 on the 1-meter board before going on to earn a mark of 278.45 on the 3-meter.

Wellesley swimming & diving will take on nearby Simmons College in a dual meet at 1:00 PM next Saturday at the Holmes Sports Center in Boston.