WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - Coming off a NESCAC championship victory in the 2024-2025 season, the Ephwomen began their 2025-2026 season at home taking on Springfield and Wesleyan in a Tri-Meet.
Williams came ready to compete in the first event of the meet, the 200 medley relay. In a close race, the Williams A and B teams took 1st and 2nd featuring
Irene Yang,
Bernadette Ramoy,
Esme Van Orden,
Sophie Phelps,
Alden White,
Anna Doherty,
Maggie Farley and
Emma Dimter. The race was highlighted by impressive butterfly splits from Farley and Van Orden, and 23.51 closing 50 by Phelps.
Next, in the longest race of the meet, distance star
Lily Codd took the 1000 freestyle in an impressive time of 10:22.23. Codd was out fast at the 500 but held on throughout the race, joined by teammate
Gracie O'Connell who took second.
The 200 freestyle was claimed by first year
Anna Doherty, followed by teammate
Alden White finishing in second. Doherty swam a smart race, almost even splitting her final three 50s. This marks her first individual race as an Eph, with more to come.
Irene Yang took the 100 backstroke in a speedy 57:63, winning the event by nearly 2 seconds.
Kyla Kelley followed behind with a strong in-season performance. The 100 breaststroke was won by
Bernadette Ramoy in a blazing 1:08.43. Ramoy raced hard to the wall in the last 10 meters.
The strong contingent of Ephwomen butterflyers showed out in the 200 butterfly. First year
Maggie Farley won with a time of 2:09.77 with senior
Ruby Groves touching second in a 2:09.87. Both swam a strong race, closing well in the last 25.
On the diving boards, junior
Ashley Loh had a great showing at the first 1 meter competition of the season. She won the event with a stellar 403B performance.
Sophie Phelps and
Clare McDermott showcased their sprinting abilities taking first and second in the 50 freestyle, the shortest race of the meet.
Esme Van Orden followed suit in the 100 freestyle claiming gold in a stellar 53.13.
The 200 backstroke was highlighted with a victory for
Alden White in a time of 2:06.67 followed by teammate
Lily Codd in 2:08.93. The 200 breaststroke saw a 1-2-3 sweep from the Ephwomen highlighted by
Anna Doherty,
Irene Yang and
Nora Sherman.
In the 500 yd freestyle freshman
Sophie Phelps swam a strong race from start to finish, with a solid closing 100 to win with a time of 5:14.05. In second place was
Kyla Kelley, a distance specialist, who swam a very consistent race as well.
The 100 yd butterfly featured 4 Ephwomen, all of whom went under 59 seconds, impressively. Winning the event was
Lily Codd, followed by
Clare McDermott,
Ruby Groves and
Maggie Farley.
In the final individual event of the meet,
Irene Yang cruised to the wall in the 200 IM, followed by
Esme Van Orden and
Nora Sherman. Yang swam four solid legs, highlighted by the closing speed on the freestyle leg. Van Orden showcased her butterfly strength early on in the race with an opening 50 in a time of 27.14.
To cap off the meet, the Ephwomen confidently took the 400 freestyle relay in a 1-2 finish, marking a strong end to their first meet as a 2025-2026 team.
Associate Head Coach
Allie Clark had some remarks on the Eph's performance: "I really liked what I saw from the team today! There was great energy throughout the meet, a lot of what we are working on in practice is showing up in races and it was fun to see our first years compete for the first time. Overall, it was a great start to the dual meet season!"
The Ephwomen will return to competition next Saturday at home against WPI, and NESCAC rival Tufts University.
