NORTON, Mass. – The Connecticut College women's swimming & diving team pulled away in the final five events to come away with a 144-135 victory this evening in a dual meet over host Wheaton College (Mass.) at Balfour Natatorium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.
The Lyons dip to 7-4 on the season, while the Camels improve to 3-5 on the season.
Wheaton celebrated its nine seniors prior to their final home meet for the Lyons. Morgen Coughlin-Doyle (Topsham, Maine), Alexa DiCenso (Methuen, Mass.), Reese Hartmann (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Madison King (Wethersfield, Mass.), Allison Kramer (Irvine, Calif.), Caris Mann (Hanover, Mass.), Anne Sweeney (Barrington, R.I.), Allie Taylor (Raleigh, N.C.) and Katie Walz (Bellevue, Wash.) were all honored.
Wheaton won 10 of 16 events in the meet, but Connecticut College used its depth to capture the meet. Coughlin-Doyle broke her own school record on the one-meter board for the second time in 10 days and her third record overall during that time span. She posted a winning score of 296.70 to top her former mark by almost nine points. She also racked up 306.15 points on the three-meter board to fall just 3.05 points shy of her school record on that board as well.
The Lyons owned a 102-94 lead after the 200-yard breaststroke and led by as many as 13 points, before a strong showing in the 500-yard freestyle gave the Camels the lead for good at 108-107. Junior Kate Edison (Westford, Mass.) won the race with a time of 5:22.87 with the next two finishers finishing less than three seconds after her, including sophomore Hope Lane (Swarthmore, Pa.), to provide the difference in the race and give the visitors the lead for good.
Wheaton later closed within one point again after Coughlin-Doyle tallied 306.15 points to win on the three-meter diving board and pull the Lyons to within 122-121. Connecticut College claimed the top two spots in the 200-yard individual medley, including a win by senior Hannah Guay (Wakefield, Mass.), and the Camels took a 138-124 lead into the final relay to mathematically seal the victory.
Hartmann and junior Garin Stone (Barrington, R.I.) joined Coughlin-Doyle as double-winners for Wheaton.
Hartmann dominated the backstroke events with a win in the 100-yard race behind a time of 1:00.09 and added a triumph in the 200-yard event with a mark of 2:09.50 for Wheaton. Stone won a pair of freestyle races, clocking in at 1:57.88 to finish first in the 200-yard race, before taking the 100-yard event in a time of 54.38.
Hartmann and Stone also contributed to a pair of relay victories for the Lyons. Hartmann led off the 400-yard medley relay in the backstroke, before yielding to junior Emma Claire Lambert-Shemo (Cleveland, Ohio) in the breaststroke leg. Stone swam the butterfly, before Walz closed out the final 100 yards in the freestyle to combine on a time of 4:00.68 to open the meet. Stone and Hartmann each established the pace in the 200-yard freestyle relay, before sophomore Anna St. Jean (Alexandria, Va.) set up Walz for her final 50 yards in Balfour Natatorium and a win after touching the wall to complete a mark of 1:39.86.
DiCenso and Walz each collected wins on the night for Wheaton. DiCenso scored in three different events to tally 13 points overall, including a first-place effort in the 200-yard butterfly (2:16.00). She also placed third in the 100-yard butterfly and fifth in the 200-yard individual medley. Walz turned in a win with a sprint of 24.37 in the 50-yard freestyle. Lambert-Shemo also contributed with a pair of runner-up showings in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke events.
Sophomore Ella Behling (Brookfield, Conn.) led Connecticut College with 13 points with a win in the 200-yard breaststroke behind a time of 2:29.81 and a second-place effort in the 200-yard individual medley. First year Campbell Baumgartner (Charlotte, N.C.) and classmate Tessa Gordon (Cottage Grove, Wis.) each registered 12 points with a first and third-place outing apiece. Baumgartner touched first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a mark of 1:08.71 and was third in the 200-yard breaststroke, while Gordon topped the field in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:00.42 and was third in the 100-yard freestyle. First year Chloe Frandsen (Germantown, Tenn.) out-swam her foes in the 1000-yard freestyle with a mark of 10:53.25 for the win.
The Lyons return to the pool on Thursday, February 20 when they head to Worcester, Mass. to compete in the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Championship hosted by Worcester Polytechnic Institute, while the Camels are back at it tomorrow when they host Wesleyan University at 1:00 p.m.
