Swimming & Diving Tops Smith, 214-84, To Improve to 6-0 in Dual Meets

WELLESLEY, Mass. –Wellesley College swimming & diving took the top time in 15 of 16 events to earn a 214-84 dual meet victory over Smith College on Saturday afternoon at Chandler Pool.

The Blue improve to 6-0 in dual meets, dropping the Pioneers to 4-3 on the season. The teams will see each other again in two weeks, when Wellesley hosts the 2016 Seven Sisters Championship, Saturday and Sunday, January 23 and 24.

Sophomore diver Maura Sticco-Ivins (Framingham, Mass.) broke her own school record on the 3-meter board, as she scored 332.30 to eclipse her previous mark of 329.30, set earlier this season in a tri-meet at Trinity College (Conn.). The Blue sophomore also won the 1-meter diving event with a score of 311.40.

Senior Ieva Galinyte (Irvine, Calif.) led the way in the swimming events, earning three individual victories. Galinyte opened with a 200 Free victory, clocking in at 1:59.96 in the day's third event. She then went on to add a victory in the 100 Free, with a time of 55.13, as well as the 100 Fly, where she recorded a time of 1:01.91.

The Blue won both relay events on the day, beginning with a victory in the 200 Medley Relay. Sophomore Fiona Chung (Lexington, Mass.), first years Cathy Chen (Parsippany, N.J.) and Karen Wang (Holmdel, N.J.) and senior Dorothy Ren (San Jose, Calif.) combined for the winning time of 1:53.39.

Chung, Cathy Chen and Ren each went on to record individual victories before the day was over. Chung opened with a time of 1:04.85 to win the 100 Back, before Cathy Chen took the 100 Breast in 1:11.71, and Ren finished first in the 200 Fly with a time of 2:12.89. Cathy Chen was also the top finisher in the 200 Breast in 2:38.19, while Ren added a 200 Back victory with the top time of 2:11.11.

First year Sunny Chiang (Troy, Mich.) scored a win in the 50 Free, sprinting to first in 26.52, before a pair of Wellesley seniors added wins in the 200 IM and the 500 Free. Erin Yang (Southborough, Mass.) touched the wall first in the 200 IM with a time of 2:22.08. Charlotte Harris (Cincinnati, Ohio) then went on to win the final individual event of the day with a time of 5:23.48.

Ren, Harris, Patricia Chen (Natick, Mass.) and Cathy Chen capped the day with a victory in the 400 Free Relay with a time of 3:43.63.

Smith's lone victory came in the second event of the day, the 1000 Free, as first year Desi Stoyanova (Plovdiv, Bulgaria) took the distance event in 11:13.06.

Wellesley will travel to MIT next Saturday, January 16, at 1:00 PM for a tri-meet with the host Engineers and Tufts.