Posted: Feb 21, 2020

Blue Swim & Dive Sets Two Program Records on Day Two at NEWMACs

(left to right) Peterson, Hsu, Wegner, and Papagelis set a new 200 Free Relay program record of 1:37.67.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Sophomore Jessica Wegner (Taipei, Taiwan) and the 200 Free Relay set a pair of new Wellesley College swimming & diving program records and the Blue earned bronze medal finishes in the 50 Free and 400 Medley Relay on day two of the 2020 New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Swimming & Diving Championships on Friday at MIT's Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center Pool.

Host MIT leads the team standings with 476.5 points. The Engineers are currently followed by Wheaton in second place with 293, Springfield in third with 270, then Wellelsey with 241.5, Coast Guard with 240.5, WPI with 238, and Smith with 174. Babson (151.5), Mount Holyoke (151), and Clark (90) hold eight, ninth, and tenth, respectively.

The Blue opened Friday's evening session with a fifth place finish in the 200 Free Relay, where Wellesley's A Relay of first year Shawyuan Hsu (Taipei, Taiwan), senior Danielle Peterson (Livingston, N.J.) and sophomores Marisa Papagelis (Westborough, Mass.) and Wegner combined for a program record time of 1:37.67. Wellesley's B Relay of junior Margaret Harrigan (Chatham, N.J.), first year Melanie Zhang (Westlake Village, Calif.), senior Kayleigh Svensson (Palo Alto, Calif.) and sophomore Julie Mason (Lakeville, Mass.) added a 13th place finish, taking third in the B Final in 1:41.40.

Wegner set a new program record in the 200 IM to top Dorothy Ren's ('16) mark of 2:09.48 set in 2015 with a time of 2:09.25 during the preliminaries. Wegner entered Friday's A Final with the sixth best time in the 200 IM, going on to take eighth place with a time of 2:10.88. First year Elizabeth Park (Dix Hills, N.Y.) helped the Blue earn two of the top-ten spots in the 200 IM, taking ninth place with a time of 2:12.58. Park qualified for Saturday's A final with a time of 2:11.63, good for tenth in the prelims.

The Blue added a pair of bronze medals to go along with the new school records. Hsu was Wellesley's only qualifier in the 50 Free A Final, advancing to the final with the tenth fastest time of 24.47 before earning an astonishing third place finish from the outside lane with a PR of 23.92 in the A Final. Wellesley concluding competition on Friday with a third and an 11th place finish in the 400 Medley Relay Final. Wellesley's A Relay of Wegner, Park, senior Maggie Haley (Shady Side, Md.) and junior Hannah May (Cincinnati, Ohio) earned bronze with a time of 3:56.33. The Blue B Relay of Papagelis, Peterson, Mason, and Hsu finished in 4:00.49.

In the 500 Free, sophomore Shelby Ripp (St. Louis, Mo.) took ninth with a time of 5:14.61 after advancing with the ninth fastest time in the prelims (5:14.08). Sophomore Emma Roberts (Boxford, Mass.) was the top Wellesley finisher in 3-meter diving, finishing in 15th place with a score of 228.65 on her 11 dive list in the preliminaries. First year Claire Moreland (San Francisco, Calif.) added a score of 246.60 to finish in 19th place.

Competition resumes Saturday, February 22, at 10:00 AM with the 400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Back, and 200 Medley Relay prelims. Saturday's Finals will take place at 6:00 PM, with Wegner, the 2019 NEWMAC Champion in the 100 Fly, looking to defend her title. For more information, visit newmacsports.com.