Posted: Jan 15, 2022

Wellesley Swimming & Diving Dominates Day One of Sisters Invitational

Wellesley College swimming & diving has a commanding first place lead after day one of the Sisters Invitational (photo by Gabrielle Shell '24)

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Wellesley College swimming & diving has a commanding first place lead after day one of the Sisters Invitational inside Chandler Pool. The Blue won 14 of 16 events and have a total of 1,208 points. Mount Holyoke sits in second place with a total of 566.5 points. Rounding out the scoring is Merrimack (436.5), Simmons (368.5), and Western New England (116.5).

The first win of the day for the Blue came in the 50 breast event, with sophomore Ariana Mitsuoka (Centennial, Co.) finishing in 31.61 seconds. Mitsuoka also earned the gold in the 50 yard freestyle, swimming a 2:14.26 and in the 100 breast at 1:10.65.

First year Angela Zhu (Bayside, N.Y.) and senior Jessica Wegner (Taipei, Taiwan) tied for first place in the 50 fly, clocking in at 27.13 seconds. For Zhu, it was a personal record in the event. Wegner also placed first in the 50 back at 28.92 and just ahead of teammate Mira Tang (Mercer Island, Wash.) at 29.25 seconds. The senior was not finished, as she earned a third victory in the 100 fly with a swim of 58.61.

McKaela Glanville (Menlo Park, Calif.) added a victory for the Blue in the 200 yard IM. The sophomore finished in 2:14.26, nine seconds ahead of teammate Maya Hart (Menlo Park, Calif.) who took the silver.

Cecilia Cai (Palo Alto, Calif.) took first place in the 500 free with a time of 5:28.90. Just behind her was first year Julia Lucey (Old Greenwich, Conn.) at 5:36.08 and good for a second place finish. Cai won her second event of the day in the second swimming session, with a time of 4:45.93 in the 400 IM.

Senior Paulina Gonzalez (Caracas, Venezuela) earned her first win in the 200 free event, clocking in at 2:06.79. Classmate Marisa Papagelis (Westborough, Mass.) finished first in the 100 yard backstroke with a swim of 1:04.80.

The Blue finished with the top four teams in the 400 yard medley relay event. The squad of Cai, Mitsuoka, Wegner, and Glanville took the top spot at 4:06.66. In second place was the combination of Mellany Smith (West Orange, N.J.), Elizabeth Park (Dix Hills, N.Y.), Zhu, and Papagelis with a time of 4:19.24.

In the first diving session, Wellesley's Claire Moreland (San Francisco, Calif.) had a finals score of 244.90 and earned 16 points. Junior Lily Duff (Scituate, Mass.) totaled 159.50 points in her diving season debut. The top diver of the day was Kathryn Murphy (Fairport, N.Y.) of Mouth Holyoke College with a finals score of 439.20.

The final event of day one was once again dominated by the Blue, as the squad of Cai, Gonzalez, Smith, and Glanville swam a collective 8:21.63 to win the 800 yard freestyle relay.