Williamstown, MA - Less than 18 hours after the close of last night's meet against MIT, the Williams women's swim and dive team was back at it in the Samuelson-Muir aquatic arena this afternoon. Taking on fellow NESCAC opponent Middlebury College, the team celebrated not only their last dual meet of the season, but also their graduating seniors' final home meet of their careers. Despite the fact that women's NESCACs will be held back at Williams in February, the occasion was undeniably bittersweet, and importance of such a milestone undoubtedly fueled the women's ascent to victory. Undoubtedly tired from the previous night's competition, and despite the meet's unusually sprint-oriented line-up, the team demonstrated their endurance and dominance within the NESCAC by swimming to victory against the field time after time.
Following the time-honored tradition of recognizing their team's three graduating senior captains (Aly Levine '14, McKenzie Murdoch '14, and Steph Nguyen '15) Williams took off, as has become customary, from the start of the first relay. Taking first and third in the event, the arrangement of Katie Bennett '16, Breanna Nguyen '16, Megan Pierce '17, and Sarah Thompson '15 stopped the clock at 3:58.72, an excellent in-season relay time. Next up in the 1,000-yd freestyle, first-year Lauren Jones starred in her season debut of the event, taking first by a margin of over 20 seconds. Jones also went on to win the 100-yd backstroke later in the meet with a solid time of 59.24. Faye Sultan '16 had an equally impressive showing in the 200-yd freestyle event, with a season's best time of 1:57.01.
The women went on to fly through the multitude of sprint events and right past their Middlebury opponents, most notably sweeping the 50-yd backstroke event. With usual backstroker Katie Bennett '16 joined by classmates Angie Sun '16 and Anna Epstein '16 to place first through third respectively. While Middlebury's Jamie Hillas touched the wall first in the following 50-yd breaststroke event, Williams swimmers Breanna Nguyen '16, Molly Prindle '15 and Olivia Clark '17 were hot on her heels to place second through fourth. Senior Aly Levine had an excellent senior day swim in her 100-yd butterfly, placing first with a time of 1:00.53, and the speedy duo of Sarah Thompson '15 and Megan Pierce '17 teamed up to go 1-2 in the 50-yd freestyle.
On the boards, the diving partnership of Michelle Higgins '15 and McKenzie Murdoch '14 was as strong as ever. Higgins took first on the 1-meter with a score of 296.33, with Murdoch close behind in second. On the 3-meter, Murdoch took a turn at first place with a score of 309.68, with Higgins in a close second.
In the 500-yd freestyle, a change of pace from the day's majorly sprint-oriented swims, first-year Olivia Clark swam to victory with an in-season best of 5:17.45. Right behind her was Molly Prindle '15 in her season debut of the event, with a very respectable time of 5:20.57. In the 100-yd IM, an unusual event for college swimming but always fun to watch, Williams had another successful sweep, with Megan Pierce '17, Steph Nguyen '14, and Olivia Jackson '17 going 1-2-3 respectively.
In the final 200-yd freestyle relay, while out-touched by Middlebury, Williams held on to the very end. The team of Anna Epstein '16, Tess Vorselen '15, Paige Haller '16 and Erica Meyers '17 managed a close second with a time of 1:43.89, closing the meet with a refusal to be ignored in this final event.
Exhausted following the long weekend of swimming, the team will now enjoy a much-deserved Sunday of rest, before yet another week of training capped by the annual Middlebury Invitational next weekend.
RESULTS
