NORTON, Mass. — Four different competitors won a pair of events to total 18 points each as part of a 152.5-144.5 victory for the host Wheaton College (Mass.) women's swimming & diving team over Springfield College today at Balfour Natatorium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons improve to 4-1 on the season, including a perfect 3-0 at home, while the Pride dip to 0-2.
Wheaton won nine of the day's 16 events. Springfield College took both relays and five individual events.
Senior diver Morgen Coughlin-Doyle (Topsham, Maine), junior Talia Dalton (Andover, Minn.) and seniors Reese Hartmann (Grand Rapids, Mich.) and Alexa DiCenso (Methuen, Mass.) all won a pair of events for the Lyons.
Senior Nina Lamb (Killingworth, Conn.) won all three of her events for a meet-high 27 points to lead the Pride, while senior Kay Shen (Hong Kong, China) won a pair of events for the visitors.
The Pride won three of the top four spots in the 100-yard freestyle to take an 88.5-78.5 margin for their largest lead of the meet. Shen touched the wall first with a mark of 52.99, while first year Korryn Cartwright (Seekonk, Mass.) placed third and classmate Olivia Schwenger (Beacon Falls, Conn.) claimed fourth to give Springfield 14 points in the event, while Wheaton senior Katie Walz (Bellevue, Wash.) placed second with a mark of 55.57.
The Lyons came right back in the 200-yard backstroke to take three of the top four positions as well, led by Hartmann's winning time of 2:13.35, while sophomore Kaleigh Morton (Milford, Conn.) was third and senior Allie Taylor (Raleigh, N.C.) was fourth. Senior Maddie Symecko (Plantsville, Conn.) prevented the sweep of the event with a second-place effort, but Wheaton cut the deficit to 93.5-92.5.
The Lyons took the lead for good with a dominant 500-yard freestyle, taking the top three stops with Dalton (5:22.48), junior Vivian Van Holland (Excelsior, Minn.) (5:23.05) and sophomore Anna St. Jean (Alexandria, Va.) (5:35.46) finishing 13 seconds within each other to put the home team ahead for good at 117.5-106.5. Wheaton led by as many as 20 points, before the Pride closed the final margin to eight in the final two events.
Hartmann added a win in the 100-yard backstroke with a mark of 1:00.77 for the Lyons, while Dalton swam to victory in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 11:04.83. DiCenso swept the butterfly events with a win in the 100-yard race (1:00.41) and the 200-yard event with a time of 2:16.92. Coughlin-Doyle overcame seven Springfield divers to win on the one-meter board with a count of 248.62 points and later posted the top total on the three-meter board with a tally of 252.15 points.
Lamb captured both breaststroke races for the Pride, winning the 100-yard circuit with a time of 1:06.20 and the 200-yard race with a mark of 2:26.35. She also added a win in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:14.72 in the final individual event of the day. Shen also sprinted to victory in the 50-yard freestyle for Springfield with a clip of 24.39. First year Annabel Culbreth-Loomis (Pelham, Mass.) led the Pride divers with a pair of second-place efforts, scoring 242.50 points on the one-meter board and 236.40 points on the three.
Springfield swept the relays as well. The Pride opened the meet with a win in the 200-yard medley relay behind graduate student Carolyn Blenk (Scarsdale, N.Y.) in the opening backstroke, Lamb in the breaststroke leg, senior Erin Kelaher (Tucson, Ariz.) in the butterfly and Shen in the anchor freestyle for a time of 1:48.91. Senior Natalie Chamberlin (Ellington, Conn.), sophomore Natalie Norbut (Bristol, Conn.), Cartwright and Shen combined for a winning time of 3:40.50 in the 400-yard freestyle relay to close the meet for the Pride.
Wheaton returns to the pool on Friday, November 22 when it competes in the Fisher Invitational at 10:00 a.m. in Bristol, R.I. at host Roger Williams University, while Springfield hosts Williams College on November 16 at 12:00 p.m.
