Blue Swimming & Diving Tops Babson, Coast Guard on Senior Day
Posted: Jan 05, 2017

Blue Swimming & Diving Tops Babson, Coast Guard on Senior Day

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College swimming & diving celebrated Senior Day with a pair of victories over New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opponents in a tri-dual meet on Thursday at Chandler Pool. The Blue earned a 235-48 victory over Babson College and a 154-144 win over the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Wellesley is now 3-3 in dual meets this season.

Prior to the meet the Blue recognized senior divers Maddie Stern (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Rebecca Jennings (London, United Kingdom), before going on to win nine of 16 events.

The Blue opened the day with a victory in the 200 Yard Medley Relay. Sophomore Cathy Chen (Parsippany, N.J.), first year Danielle Peterson (Livingston, N.J.) and sophomores Karen Wang (Holmdel, N.J.) and Francesca Dong (Princeton Junction, N.J.) finished the race in 1:53.92 to win the event.

Chen went on to win her first individual event three events later when she posted a time of 1:01.69 in the 100 Yard Backstroke. The Wellesley sophomore was not done there, as she would later add a victory in the 50 Yard Freestyle, churning out the top time between two heats with a mark of 25.31.

Peterson joined Chen with a pair of individual victories in the meet. Following Chen's win in the 100 Yard Backstroke, Peterson gave the Blue back-to-back first place finishes with a time of 1:11.64 in the 100 Yard Breaststroke. Peterson also captured the 200 Yard Breaststroke with a mark of 2:33.77. The first year finished just ahead of junior Lindsey Wu (Livingston, N.J.) in both events, as Wu raced to a time of 1:12.63 in the 100 and 2:35.16 in the 200.

Making her first appearance of the 2016-17 season, junior diver Maura Sticco-Ivins (Framingham, Mass.) won both 1-meter and 3-meter diving. Sticco-Ivins totaled regional qualifying marks in both events, scoring 277.25 on the 1-meter and 314.30 on the 3-meter. Competing in her final event at Chandler Pool, Stern was third in 1-meter diving with a final score of 251.75 and runner-up in 3-meter diving with a mark of 248.90. 

Sophomore Sunny Chiang (Troy, Mich.) also grabbed a pair of victories in the Wellesley effort on Thursday. Chiang was first in the 200 Yard Backstroke (2:15.69) and the 200 Yard IM (2:16.23).  Chiang's 200 IM time was just ahead of Wang's, as her sophomore classmate gave the Blue two very competitive times with a mark of 2:17.99. Wang was also second in the 100 Yard Butterfly earlier in the day, finishing in 1:01.58. 

Wellesley swimming & diving will return to the pool on Saturday, January 14, when they take on Seven Sisters rival Smith College at 1:00 PM in Northampton, Mass.