NORTON, Mass. – Four competitors each won two events for the home team and the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's swimming & diving team won all but two events in a 198-93 dual meet victory over visiting Worcester Polytechnic Institute this evening at Balfour Natatorium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons win their fifth straight meet to improve to 8-2 on the season, while the Engineers fall to 4-6.
Wheaton won 14 of 16 events, including a sweep of the top three spots in two events.
Senior Lily Watson (Waterford, Conn.), juniors Katie Walz (Bellevue, Wash.) and Morgen Coughlin-Doyle (Topsham, Maine) and sophomore Emma Claire Lambert-Shemo (Cleveland, Ohio) each won a pair of events for the Lyons.
Watson touched first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.70, before showing her range with a win in the 500-yard freestyle as well with a mark of 5:14.53. Walz placed first in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 59.35 and clocked in at 53.74 to take first in the 100-yard freestyle. Lambert-Shemo topped the field in the 50-yard breaststroke with a mark of 31.68 and came out on top in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:17.33. Coughlin-Doyle tallied 271.87 points to win on the one-meter diving board, before scoring a career-high total of 276.15 points to capture the three-meter event.
Senior Meghan Dickinson (North Kingstown, R.I.) and junior Reese Hartmann (Grand Rapids, Mich.) each collected 12 points, including a win each on the night. Dickinson hit the wall first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:08.29 and added a third-place effort in the 100-yard butterfly, while Hartmann posted the fastest time in the 100-yard backstroke with a clip of 1:00.31 to go with a third-place showing in the 50-yard freestyle.
Senior Katalyn Foster (Weston, Conn.) and sophomore Vivian Van Holland (Excelsior, Minn.) each logged a win in the meet for Wheaton. Foster won the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:04.15 and placed fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke and Van Holland placed first in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 11:08.40.
The Lyons dominated both relays, opening the meet with a win in the 200-yard medley relay behind Hartmann's lead backstroke followed by Dickinson in the breaststroke and Watson in the butterfly. Walz capped the race with the last 50-yard freestyle to combine on a time of 1:50.23. Senior Amelia Butler (New York, N.Y.), sophomore Garin Stone (Barrington, R.I.), Walz and Watson formed the winning 400-yard freestyle relay for Wheaton, posting a time of 3:38.01.
Junior Leah Kolb (Canton, Mich.) led WPI with 14 points after winning the 50-yard backstroke with a clip of 28.62 and adding a second-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle and a fifth-place effort in the 100-yard freestyle. Sophomore Rachel Tsang (Acton, Mass.) accumulated the same point total, including a first-place finish in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 27.83 in addition to a runner-up showing in the 100-yard backstroke and fifth place in the 100-yard butterfly.
The Lyons return to the pool on Saturday, January 20 when they host Trinity College (Coll.) on Senior Day at 2:00 p.m. in Balfour Natatorium, while the Engineers head to Waterville, Maine to take on Colby College at 2:00 p.m.
