Smith Slips Past Swim & Dive, 156-137
SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (Feb. 7, 2009) – The Smith College women’s swimming and diving team slipped past local rival Mount Holyoke College 156-137 this afternoon at the Mount Holyoke Pool. It was the Pioneers third straight triumph over the Lyons. With the win, they improved to 4-3 on the year. Mount Holyoke fell to 3-6.
Leading the way for Smith was sophomore Lily Seidman, who collected three wins. She touched the wall first in both the 200-yard (2:21.01) and 100-yard (1:04.11) butterfly events and later grabbed first place in the 200-yard individual medley (2:21.19). Junior Christine Dzialo, along with sophomores Lenora Walter and Alexis-Clair Roehrich added two victories apiece. Dzialo contributed wins in the 200-yard (2:05.06) and 500-yard (5:45.93) freestyle races, while Walter tallied victories in the 100-yard (1:04.19) and 200-yard (2:19.02) backstroke events. Roehrich swept the diving competitions.
Mount Holyoke was paced by Lydia Bowers, who accounted for four first place finishes. Individually, she grabbed top honors in both the 50-yard (26.09) and 100-yard (57.01) freestyle races. The first year also figured in on a pair of relay triumphs. She teamed with classmate Mary Kate Miller, junior Lindsay Schonborn and sophomore Miki Yoshida to win the 200-yard medley relay (2:00.46). Her fourth win came in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:54.68) with Miller, senior Lisa Nash and first year Sarah Rooney.
The Lyons also received a boost from Schonborn, who posted top times in both the 100-yard (1:13.90) and 200-yard (2:41.98) breaststroke events. Nash chipped in with a first place showing in the 1,000-yard freestyle (11:52.58) to round things out for the hosts.
The New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships will take place at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from Friday, February 20 through Sunday, February 22. Last year, Smith (4-3) grabbed sixth place, and Mount Holyoke (3-6) finished ninth.