CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's swimming & diving team posted three top-four finishes on the final day of the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Swimming & Diving Championship hosted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center Pool in Cambridge, Mass.
The Lyons placed seventh in the championship meet with 480 points, finishing behind sixth-place Smith College's total of 492 points. Host MIT won its 15th straight NEWMAC crown after scoring 1632.5 points.
Wheaton senior Emma Claire Lambert-Shemo (Cleveland, Ohio) finished third in the 200-yard breaststroke with a personal-record time of 2:22.64. The Lyons also received points from junior Kelsey Callaghan (Vestal, N.Y.), who placed 14th in the race with a personal-best mark of 2:33.34. First year Lauren Bullins (Lenexa, Kan.) clocked in at 2:34.21 to establish a new personal standard and finish 16th in the event.
Senior Garin Stone (Barrington, R.I.) led the Lyons in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 52.62 to finish third. Stone also set the pace for Wheaton's 400-yard freestyle relay, leading off, before yielding to Lambert-Shemo. Senior Talia Dalton (Andover, Minn.) followed and junior Anna St. Jean (Alexandria, Va.) closed out the race, touching the wall with a season-best mark of 3:33.23 to place third.
The Lyons' second unit of Bullins, first year Amani Sodhi (Farmingdale, N.Y.), junior Kaleigh Morton (Milford, Conn.) and senior Vivian Van Holland (Excelsior, Minn.) combined to post a time of 3:43.13 to finish 15th.
Morton and senior Grace Chin (Blooming Grove, N.Y.) each scored in the 200-yard butterfly for Wheaton. Morton placed 17th after clocking in at 2:20.20 and Chin placed 20th with a clip of 2:21.54.
Stone led the Lyons with a team-high 58 points during the meet, which was tied for 11th-most among all NEWMAC competitors, including a second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle, a fourth-place effort in the 100-yard freestyle and a fifth-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle. Lambert-Shemo tallied 47 points, behind today's third place effort in the 200-yard breaststroke, a fifth-place swim in the 100-yard breaststroke and a finish of 12th in the 200-yard individual medley. Van Holland scored 32 points with seventh-place finishes in both the 500 and 200-yard freestyle races. Dalton totaled 25 points with a ninth-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle and an 11th-place effort in the 500-yard freestyle.
Wheaton placed among the top five in four relays, including second in the 800-yard freestyle relay, third in the 400-yard freestyle relay, fourth in the 200-yard medley relay and fifth in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
The Lyons will await the NCAA announcement of swimming qualifiers on Thursday, February 26 on NCAA.com.
