SCHENECTADY, NY - The Smith College swimming and diving team opened their season with three wins on Saturday afternoon at a meet hosted by Union College. The Bears defeated Clarkson 217-63, St. Lawrence 199-75, and the hosts 180-95. Diver Katherine Welsh (St. Paul, MN/Saint Paul Academy) swept both the 1meter and 3meter, achieve NCAA qualifying scores on both. The Bears won nine events in total.

"We accomplished our objectives," said head coach Caleb Potvin. "The main focus for this meet was to focus on our effort and energy. Letting the results take care of themselves. Each athlete was engaged, focused, and gave each race and dive their best effort. This sets a great standard for how we want to compete in every meet. We're looking forward to getting back to work on Monday to make further improvements and build from this strong start to the season."

Highlights

• The 200 medley relay team of Jaclyn Kanda (Irvine, CA/Arnold O Beckman), Grace Magee (Portland, OR/Oregon Episcopal), Wang, and Madeleine Lucas (Salem, MA/Salem) opened the meet with a second place time of 1:58.79
• Wang earned the top spot in the 100 back (1:03.19) and the 100 fly (1:01.16) 
• Emma Schulz claimed the top spot in the 200 free (2:03.53) 
• Madison Milla touched the wall first in the 100 free (56.34), while Abby Caputo won the 50 fly in 28.25
• The squad of Schulz, Bebe Cosgrove (New Paltz, NY/New Paltz), Lucas, and Milla won the 200 free relay in 1:46.42
• Welsh took home the top score in the 1-meter (287.10) and the 3-meter (298.80)

"This was a great first meet for the whole team," said diver Katherine Welsh (St. Paul, MN/Saint Paul Academy). "The energy of being back in the water and racing some new teams really carried our energy and kept the vibes high. The swimmers showed off and swam fast, even on the other end of the pool their positivity was contagious. Both our first year divers killed it at their first college dive meet and stayed competitive and focused the whole time. I'm so excited that I got the NCAA cut on both boards, just leaving one more until I qualify for regionals in March. Winning all 3 meets as a team was the cherry on top! I'm so proud of this team and excited for our next meet!"

Up Next
Smith will compete at the WPI Quad on Friday, October 31 starting at 5:30pm

About Smith Athletics: Smith College is a NCAA Division III member of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference that sponsors 11 intercollegiate sports. For more information log onto GoSmithBears.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram