COMPLETE RESULTS
SPRINGFIELD, MA – Williams women's swimming & diving splashed into their 2015-2016 season tonight with a 169-125 win over Springfield College away at Springfield's Art Linkletter Natatorium. This victory is the first step in what these women hope to be a season of unprecedented success.
The Eph women set the tone for the meet immediately in the 400-yd medley relay, in which the Williams relays placed first, third, and fourth. At the sound of the beep, Katie Bennett '16 shot out in front with a backstroke leg of 58.94 for the Ephs' top relay. Following Bennett was breaststroke powerhouse Breanna Nguyen '16, flyer Maia Hare '19, and lastly Faye Sultan '16, who brought them home with a freestyle split of 53.78. Not only was this the lead off to the women's season, it was also a notable start to Hare's college career with the Ephs.
Williams continued their dominance in relays at the end of the meet, with the three teams again finishing in first, third, and fourth in the 400-yd freestyle relay. The A-relay of Faye Sultan '16, Olivia Jackson '17, Dana Chung '19, and Delaney Smith '18 finished with a time of 3:37.89. These performances certainly hint that the team could be a cohesive powerhouse in future relays this year.
On the individual front, the Eph women showed up ready to perform. Megan Pierce '17 and Isabella Salmi '17 made waves in the 1000 free, placing first and third respectively. Pierce touched to a time of 10:21.62, which gives her the fourth fastest time in Division III for that event this year. Later in the meet, sprinters Faye Sultan '16 and Dana Chung '19 went 1-2 in the 50-yd freestyle. Sultan broke away from the field with a 24.61, and Chung finished shortly after at 25.45. The Ephs finished together in a similar fashion in the mid-distance events. In the 200-yd backstroke, Katie Bennett '16 placed first with a time of 2:06.92, followed shortly by Katie Priest '18 at 2:07.44. The Eph women finished 1-2-3 in their heat in the 200-yd butterfly, with Sofie Pietrantonio '17 taking a strong lead with a time of 2:12.90. Paige Haller touched soon after, followed by Erin Kennedy '19.
Eph women divers started this season with inspiring performances from Ariana Ross '17 and Molly Harrington '18. Ross dominated the field in both the 1-meter and 3-meter, placing first in both events and receiving qualifying scores for the NCAA-regional meet. This meet marked Harrington's debut in competitive diving, yet she made an impression on the competition with a challenging list of dives and expert execution.
Head coach Steven Kuster expressed his excitement to be back to competition with this debut by the Eph women, "It was nice to start racing after a few long weeks of practice. I was pleased to see the team energized and excited in and out of the water." This victory is certainly just the tip of the iceberg for the Ephs this season, with a long road of practices and competitions ahead of them. Their season continues tomorrow against Union College at 1-PM EST at the Ephs' Samuelson-Muir Pool.
