WATERVILLE, ME—After a weekend full of fast swims and clean dives, the Ephwomen of Williams Swim and Dive claimed the championship title. Williams scored 1753 points to claim their 21st NESCAC Championship.
The Ephs' effort was highlighted by Sophia Verkleern winning 'Swimmer of the Meet' for a third year in a row after sweeping the 200 IM, 100 butterfly, and 200 butterfly and helping the Ephs win the 800 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay, and 400 freestyle relay.
The distance duo of
Lily Codd and
Kyla Kelley led off the final session in the 1650 freestyle, the longest event of the weekend. Codd followed her 2nd place finish in the 1000 freestyle with another 2nd place finish in 16:49.60, and Kelley raced to the finish in a tight pack ending up in fifth at 17:17.40.
Clementine Robins won her first individual event of the weekend in the 200 back handily winning the championship final in 1:59.27, breaking the 2:00 barrier for the first time.
Irene Yang and
Alden White also joined Robins in the championship final, touching fourth and second respectively in a 2:01.41 and 2:01.33. These were lifetime best times for all of them as well as the NCAA B cut and 2024 NCAA Invite time.
Aly Eward swam in the pre consolation final in a time of 2:10.40 and finished 24th overall.
Annika Chu was the sole Eph in the 100 freestyle championship final. With quick walls and a fast stroke, she touched eighth in the heat in a 52.24. The sprint duo of
Emma Dimter and
Bernadette Ramoy took on the 100 freestyle in the consolation final. Dimter touched first in a time of 52.11 dropping from her prelims swim this morning. Ramoy finished second in the heat in a 52.17 also dropping.
Zora Vujovic and
Isabel Espinosa swam in the pre consolation and finished 19th and 24th overall respectively in a 53.14 and 53.56.
Charlotte Wishnack took her second breaststroke title of the meet in the 200 breaststroke touching first in 2:13.50.
Carter Roebuck finished right behind her teammate at 2:16.00 placing second which was a lifetime best time, NCAA B cut and 2024 NCAA Invite time.
Issy Hiller placed seventh in the heat in a 2:22.23, a season best for the senior.
Sophia Verkleeren took her third title of the meet, in the 200 butterfly, and blew it out of the water in a pool and meet record of 1:57.47. This was also a lifetime best time for the senior.
Ruby Groves also had a lifetime best time swim touching third in a 2:03.75.
Abi Greenberg also moved up from her preliminary swim to fifth place in a 2:04.52. In the consolation final,
Gracie O'Connell had a stunning back half to her race, catching up to the competition in the final lap to touch second in the heat for a season best of 2:05.66 dropping almost 2 seconds from her preliminary swim.
The meet culminated with the 400 freestyle relay where the Ephs looked to put a stamp on a very successful weekend at Colby. The B relay of
Clare McDermott (52.45),
Zora Vujovic (52.31),
Annika Chu (52.14), and
Bernadette Ramoy (51.25) had a tight swim against Tufts A finishing second in the B heats (3:28.15). In the A heats, the Williams A relay of
Clementine Robins,
Emma Dimter,
Sophia Verkleeren, and
Carter Roebuck took the blocks. Robins blasted to touch fifth in the first leg in a 51.98. Dimter was up next and had a quick back half to touch 4th in a 51.23 split. Verkleeren was next in her last event of the meet catching up the relay to second position with a split of 51.08. Roebuck finished the relay off with a second place finish in a time of 3:32.33.
The individual and team awards were then awarded.
Sophia Verkleeren received the NESCAC Swimmer of the Year.
Charlotte Wishnack was awarded 2nd Career High Point Swimmer Award and
Sophia Verkleeren for 1st place Career High Point Swimmer Award. The Williams coaching staff of Head Coach
Steve Kuster and Assistant Coaches
Allie Clark,
James Singewald, and Maddie Downs was awarded the Swimming Staff of the Year Award.
This concludes the competitive season for some swimmers and divers, while others will continue to Diving Regionals February 28-March 1 and the NCAA Division III Championship in Greensboro, NC March 19-22.
Final Team Scores
1. Williams College 1831
2. Tufts University 1801
3. Amherst College 1043
4. Colby College 1042
5. Middlebury College 930
6. Hamilton College 683
7. Bowdoin College 647
8. Bates College 531
9. Connecticut College 473
10. Wesleyan University 371
11. Trinity College 369.5