Isaacs eclipses 400-yard IM school record
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Wheaton College women's swimming and diving team is ranked sixth overall after day two of competition at the 2013 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Swimming and Diving Championships, hosted by MIT, at the Barrie Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center.
MIT remains atop the standings after day two with 718 points. Springfield is second overall with 424 points, Wellesley is positioned third with 299 points, Coast Guard Academy ranks fourth (220) and Mount Holyoke College rounds out the top-5 with 207 points.
Senior co-captain Caroline Isaacs (San Jose, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) swam to a school record time and touched seventh overall in the 400-yard individual medley with a mark of 4:41.49. Isaacs broke her previous school record of 4:42.29 which she set at last season's NEWMAC Championships on February 18 by almost a full second.
In the 200-yard medley relay, Isaacs teamed up with fellow co-captain Dana Auger (Milford, Mass./Milford), sophomore Cara Morris (Irvington, N.Y./Irvington) and freshman Courtney Leach (Gilford, N.H./Gilford) for a fourth place finish in a total time of 1:49.53.
Auger turned in an eighth place swim in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:00.31. Auger's time of 28.05-seconds through the 50-yard portion of the event just missed breaking the school record of 28.04 set by classmate Elle Van Cott (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central). Van Cott also competed in the 100-yard backstroke as she finished 15th overall in 1:02.60 just ahead of freshman Skyler Dean-Lee (Rocky Hill, Conn./Rocky Hill). Dean-Lee touched in 16th place with a time of 1:02.85.
Leach and Morris went 13th overall and 14th overall, respectively, in the 100-yard butterfly with times of 59.81-seconds and 1:00.18-seconds.
Senior Julia Kusiak Carey (Shawmut, Maine/Lawrence) placed 16th overall in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:00.55.
In the 800-yard freestyle relay, Morris, Kusiak Carey, Isaacs and Van Cott paired up for an eighth place finish in 8:02.56.
Other Wheaton Highlights Include:
Classmate Kirstie Parkinson (Singapore, Sinagpore/Singapore American School) recorded a new season-best for the Lyons in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:10.89 for 18th place overall. Isaacs held the previous season-best time in the event (1:11.55). Parkinson also finished 17th overall in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:55.14.
Wheaton's 200-yard medley relay "B" team of Parkinson, Dean-Lee and freshmen Helen Grant (Suffield, Conn./Loomis Chaffee School) and Kelsey Meyer (Malvern, Pa./Conestoga) finished 14th overall with combined time of 1:53.59.
In the 200-yard freestyle, Van Cott ranked 20th overall in 2:01.64, freshman Ceara Bowman (Centerville, Mass./Portsmouth Abbey) was 21st in 2:02.07 and classmate Julia Baynes (Winchester, Mass./Winchester) placed 23rd overall in 2:03.42.
Freshman Mikaela Puth (Rumson, N.J./Canterbury School) finished 24th overall in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:12.33.
The Lyons 800-yard freestyle relay "B" team consisting of freshman Amanda Welch (Torrington, Conn./Torrington), Grant, Baynes and Bowman swam to an 11th place finish in a total time of 8:12.98.
Wheaton returns to the pool tomorrow for day three of the NEWMAC Championships at MIT with trials beginning at 10:00 a.m. The women's 1,650-yard freestyle will open up the finals session of tomorrow's NEWMAC Championships at 6 p.m. in the Barrie Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center.
