FULL RESULTS
WILLIAMSTOWN, MA -- The Ephwomen, who were ranked #7 in NCAA Division III at the end of December, faced off against #5 NYU and #6 MIT today in the Samuelson-Muir Pool. They started the meet off with a lead and never looked back, ultimately winning against MIT 203-97 and against NYU 212-88. This win extends the Williams Women's Swim and Dive team's Division III dual meet winning streak, which began in 2008, to 126 wins. This meet was also the team's first annual 'Pride Meet,' as the Ephwomen raced in caps displaying a pride flag in a celebration of queer athletes. The meet served as an opportunity to acknowledge the work that has been done to make the team a space that is safe and welcoming for all, along with the steps we need to continue to keep taking towards inclusion. Most importantly, today was a celebration of queerness.
The meet opened with a fast 400 medley relay, with the team of Sophia Verkleeren '25 (56.41), Amanda Wager '23.5 (1:03.81), Samantha Kilcoyne '23.5 (54.76), and Gabby Lopez-Ona '24 (53.18) swimming a scorching 3:48.16 to claim the win by 3.5 seconds. The team of Caitlin Murphy '24 (59.74), Charlotte Wishnack '25 (1:05.11), Emma Schulman '24 (56.66), and Amy Zhao '25 (53.76) swam a 3:55.27 for third place, holding off a charging anchor leg from the NYU 'A' medley team.Â
The 1650 was the first individual event of the meet and the duo of Lily Codd '26 and Frances Hayward '24 powered to a 1-2 finish, with Codd swimming a very fast 17:23.47 and Hayward swimming a well-paced 17:37.16, her second fastest time ever. The next event was the 200 freestyle, which was a very exciting race to watch. Georgia Panitz '22.5 swam a very controlled race to win by .15 seconds in a fast 1:55.04. Gabby Lopez-Ona also swam a gutsy race, taking fourth in 1:57.36.
Next were the 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke, with Verkleeren and Wager repeating their swims from the 400 medley to capture the wins. Verkleeren swam a very fast 55.94 to win by almost a second in the 100 backstroke, while Murphy touched the wall in 5th with a time of 59.16. Bainon Hart '24 also had a good swim in 1:00.35, followed closely by Molly Arts '24 in 1:00.86. In the 100 breaststroke, Wager swam a time of 1:04.25 (an in-season best) to beat out the current NCAA Division III record-holder in the 100 breaststroke. Wishnack powered to the wall in 3rd place with a time of 1:06.02, an in-season best. Rika Yahashiri '25 also had a great swim in a time of 1:08.45 (an in-season best) to take 5th place.
The final events in the first half of the meet were the 200 butterfly and the 50 freestyle. Gracie-O'Connell '26 touched the wall in third place for the Ephwomen in the 200 butterfly, an event that featured the 2022 NCAA Division III 200 butterfly champion, in a time of 2:08.37. Schulman took 5th place in a well-fought 2:09.06. The 50 freestyle was won by Kilcoyne by just over a half a second in an in-season best of 23.73. Zora Vujovic '25 had a great swim to take 3rd in a time of 24.49, and Irene Yang '26 took 5th in a time of 24.95.
On the diving side of the pool, there were 14 women competing on the boards today. The Ephwomen demonstrated a great deal of control as they masterfully handled a very long diving competition. On 3m, Emma Casey '23 took the win with a final score of 283.95 and Adelaide Herman '25 was not far behind, placing third with a final score of 252.15. On 1m, Casey grabbed second place with a final score of 239.40 and Herman placed third with a final score of 237.75.Â
To start off the second half of the meet, Kilcoyne swam another in-season best to take the win in the 100 freestyle in a time of 52.09. Her teammate, Panitz, made it a 1-2 punch for the Ephwomen as she powered to the wall in a time of 53.83. Yang placed fifth in a time of 54.83.Â
The 200 backstroke was won by a margin of 1.5 seconds by Verkleeren in a 2:00.93. Hart swam a well-executed race to take 5th in a time of 2:10.45. Additionally, Wager captured the 200 breaststroke title by almost 4 seconds with a time of 2:18.58. Wishnack swam a gutsy race to take third in a time of 2:22.98. Maddie Annis '23 also had a great swim to take 5th in a season-best 2:28.17.
Codd and Hayward returned in the 500 freestyle to once again place first and second, with Codd swimming a 5:05.08 and Hayward swimming a 5:05.39. They swam the race very differently, as Codd was out 3 seconds ahead of Hayward at the 200 mark. Panitz and Schulman also had great races, with Panitz taking 4th in a time of 5:11.58 and Schulman taking 5th in a time of 5:11.82.Â
In the second to last individual event of the day, Kilcoyne won the 100 butterfly by 2.5 seconds in a time of 55.72. Lopez-Ona took 4th in a time of 58.87. Additionally, Liz Ramoy '25 had a great swim to take 6th in a time of 59.66, as did Amy Zhao '25, as she took 7th in a time of 59.83.Â
The Ephwomen took the 400 IM by force, with a 1-3-4-5 finish. Verkleeren took the win in a time of 4:26.35, Codd took 3rd with a time of 4:30.26 (featuring a 1:00.00 freestyle split). This time was not far off of Codd's lifetime best. Wager took 4th with a time of 4:35.65 (featuring a 1:12.81 breaststroke split). Finally, O'Connell placed 5th with a season-best of 4:37.69.
The meet concluded with an electric 200 freestyle relay. The team of Yang (24.87), Panitz (24.40), Vujovic (24.14), and Zhao (24.76) took second to a very fast MIT team. Also, the team of Yahashiri (25.50), Ramoy (24.56), Schulman (24.79), and Wishnack (24.56) took fourth, beating out both MIT and NYU's 'B' teams.Â
The Ephwomen return to competition tomorrow for their final dual meet of the season, when they take on NESCAC competitors Middlebury and Hamilton in Middlebury, VT at 1pm.
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