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

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Wellesley College swimming & diving celebrated Senior Day on Tuesday afternoon at Chandler Pool, splitting a pair of New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) duals with Babson College and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

The Blue defeated Babson 219-73, but fell to Coast Guard 166-134. Wellesley is now 4-1 in dual meets. In the dual meet between Babson and Coast Guard, the Coast Guard men claimed a 179-89 victory and the women earned a 216-80 win.

Prior to the meet Wellesley recognized seniors Sunny Chiang (Troy, Mich.), Francesca Dong (Princeton Junction, N.J.), Jessie Feng (Princeton, N.J.), Ingrid Henderson (Berkeley, Calif.), Emma Magee (Stormville, N.Y.) and Crystal Zhu (Chelmsford, Mass.) during the team's annual Senior Day ceremony.

Juniors Kayleigh Svensson (Palo Alto, Calif.) and Danielle Peterson (Livingston, N.J.) and first years Jessica Wegner (Taipei, Taiwan) and Peyton Wang (Palo Alto, Calif.) put together a time of 1:53.25 to open the meet with a Blue victory in the 200 Medley Relay. The Blue had two of the top three times in the opening event, with Chiang, sophomore Jessica Wu (Palo Alto, Calif.), Feng, and Zhu finishing third in 1:56.37 behind a runner time of 1:55.61 from Coast Guard's A Relay.

Wellesley also earned victories in the 100 Fly and the 200 IM on Thursday. Wegner, the new program record holder in the 100 Fly, finished the event in 59.50 to narrowly defeat Coast Guard's Kristen Durham-Young (LaGrange, Ill.), who followed in 59.64. First year Shelby Ripp (St. Louis, Mo.) was first in the 200 IM (2:12.73), topping Coast Guard sophomore Sarah Passilla (Winter Garden, Fla.) and senior Samantha Kenis (Herdon, Va.) who finished 2-3 with times of 2:14.58 and 2:19.60, respectively.   

Coast Guard first year Josie McGuire (Springville, Ala.) outdistanced the field by over 40 seconds to claim the 1000 Free in 10:41.94. First year Paulina Gonzalez (Caracas, Venezuela) was the top finisher for the Blue, touching the wall in 11:30.20 to take third. McGuire would also finish first in the 500 Free (5:15.80) later in the meet.

The Bears followed with victories in the next five events to take an 83-48 lead on the Blue heading into 1-meter diving. Wellesley had a 106-24 lead over Babson following the 50 Free, while the Bears also built a 102-28 advantage over Babson.

Sophomore Hannah May (Cincinnati, Ohio) took third (1:59.62) to lead the Blue in the 200 Free. Wegner was second in the 100 Back, trailing Sophie Furigay (Asheville, N.C.) of Coast Guard by tenths of a second with a time of 1:00.71. Peterson and Wu finished 2-3 for the Blue in the 100 Breast with times of 1:11.85 and 1:12.03, respectively, while Feng was third (2:14.32) to lead the Blue in the 200 Fly and Wang was the runner-up in the 50 Fly sprint in 25.42. 

Babson senior Tessa Amoroso (Rowley, Mass.) claimed women's 1-meter and 3-meter diving, scoring 222.95 on the 1-meter board and 249.05 on the 3-meter board. Henderson was second on both the 1-meter (176.70) and the 3-meter (184.25) for Wellesley. Blue first year Emma Roberts (Boxford, Mass.) took third in 1-meter (166.35) and in the 3-meter (162.35). 

Coast Guard continued to roll following 1-meter diving, claiming the top spot in the 100 Free, 200 Back, and the 400 Free Relay. May led the way for Wellesley in the 100 Free, finishing second in 55.90. Chiang was third in the 200 Back in 2:17.14. First year Lizzy Demoine (Avon-by-the-Sea, N.J.) earned Babson's first swimming victory in the next event, finishing ahead of Wu (2:38.34), Peterson (2:39.85), and Wellesley first year Grace Bronstone (Truckee, Calif.) (2:45.55) in the 200 Breast with a time of 2:37.21. The Bears closed out the meet with a time of 3:39.78 in the 400 Free Relay, as Coast Guard's A Relay edged the Blue A Relay of Wang, Peterson, Wegner, and May (3:43.26).  

Wellesley returns to action on Saturday, January 12 with a 1:00 PM dual meet at Seven Sisters rival Smith College.