Sticco-Ivins Leads Blue Swim & Dive With Runner-Up Performance at NEWMACs

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Senior diver Maura Sticco-Ivins (Framingham, Mass.) closed out her New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) career with her eighth All-Conference honor, leading Wellesley College swimming & diving with a runner-up performance in one-meter diving on the final night of the 2018 NEWMAC Swimming and Diving Championships at MIT's Zeisger Center Pool.

Host MIT captured the 2018 NEWMAC crown with 1314 points. The Engineers were followed by Wheaton (1002) in second and Springfield (795.5) in third. WPI (721) and Coast Guard (575.5) finished in fourth and fifth, followed by the Blue (449) in sixth, Smith (261) in seventh and Mount Holyoke (242) in eighth. Clark (230) and Babson (203) rounded out the field of ten teams.

Sticco-Ivins totaled a final score of 468.85 on the one-meter board, finishing 18 points back of first in her final event at the NEWMAC Championships. Despite Sunday's runner-up finish, Sticco-Ivins ends her career with the most NEWMAC diving championships in conference history and as one of only two divers to win NEWMAC Diver of the Year honors three times in her career. 

The Blue also added top-ten times in 200 Back, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, and 400 Free Relay on Sunday night. Sophomore Kayleigh Svensson (Palo Alto, Calif.) finished one spot shy of a medal in the 200 Back, taking fourth in 2:09.83. Sophomore Danielle Peterson (Livingston, N.J.) followed with a sixth-place performance in the 200 Breast, finishing in 2:29.12 to lead the Blue. First year Margaret Harrigan (Chatham, N.J.) added a time of 2:33.58 in the B Final to finish eighth in the heat and 18th overall.

Wellesley then added top-ten times in both the A and B Final of the 200 Fly. Junior Jessie Feng (Princeton, N.J.) was sixth overall, touching the wall in 2:10.78 in the A Final. Sophomore Maggie Haley (Shady Side, Md.) took fifth in the opening heat, finishing 15th overall in 2:14.56. Following Sticco-Ivins performance, the Blue closed out the weekend with a sixth place effort in the 400 Free Relay, with Peterson, Svensson, Feng, and Harrigan combined for a time of 3:38.87.

Sticco-Ivins will aim to make her fourth appearance at the NCAA Division III Championships when she represents the Blue at next weekend's NCAA Diving Regionals at Middlebury College.

2018 NEWMAC Swimming & Diving Major Award Winners

Women's Rookie of the Year - Lydia Dacourte - Wheaton
Women's Diver of the Year - Blake Zhou - MIT
Women's Swimmer of the Year - Jenna Hayden - Wheaton