Seven Sisters Success Leads to NEWMAC Awards Sweep for Blue Swimming & Diving

WELLESLEY, Mass. — Wellesley College swimming & diving has swept the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Women's Swimming & Diving Awards for the week ending January 22, 2016.

After earning Wellesley's 20th consecutive Seven Sisters Championship over the weekend, junior Maura Sticco-Ivins (Framingham, Mass.) was named Diver of the Week, sophomore Cathy Chen (Parsipanny, N.J.) was named Swimmer of the Week and Wellesley's 200 Medley Relay Team, made up of Chen, first year Danielle Peterson (Livingston, N.J.) and sophomores Karen Wang (Holmdel, N.J.) and Crystal Zhu (Chelmsford, Mass.) was named the Relay Team of the Week.  

The award was the third-straight for Sticco-Ivins, following a weekend in which she registered 11-dive NCAA Regional qualifying scores on both the 1 and 3-meter boards en route to All-Seven Sisters honors in both events for the third consecutive year. On Saturday, Sticco-Ivins scored 474.75 to win the 1-meter on the opening day of competition. She followed that performance with a score of 508.40 to win the 3-meter on Sunday. The Framingham native was also featured in the Boston Globe West Noteworthy Performances sections over the weekend.

Chen becomes the second Wellesley swimmer this year to win the NEWMAC Swimmer of the Week award, following sophomore Sunny Chiang's (Troy, Mich.) recognition on November 21, 2016. Chen won three individuals titles in three different strokes and was part of three relay winning teams at the Seven Sisters Championships, garnering All-Seven Sisters honors in the 50 Freestyle (24.98) as well as the 100 Breaststroke (1:09.27) and the 100 Backstroke (59.74). She also grabbed individual runner-up honors in the 100 Freestyle with a time of 55.45, while swimming as part of the Blue's winning teams in the 200 Freestyle Relay (1:42.61) and 400 Freestyle Relay (3:44.09), and 200 Medley Relay. 

Peterson, Wang and Zhu joined Chen on the 200 Medley Relay squad to win the event in 1:51.93. The NEWMAC recognition is the first for Peterson and Zhu and the second for Wang, who earned NEWMAC Swimmer of the Week accolades during the 2015-16 season. Chen has now been a part of three NEWMAC Relay Teams of the Week. This week's Swimmer of the Week Award is the first of Chen's career.  

Wellesley swimming & diving will travel to Hartford, Conn. on Saturday, January 28, to take on Conn. College, Wheaton and host Trinity College at 1:00 PM.