CAMBRIDGE - The Smith College swimming and diving team posted numerous personal-bests, broke one school record, and totaled 492 team points to finish in sixth place, the Bears' best finish at the NEWMAC Championship since 2008.
MIT claimed its 15th consecutive NEWMAC Women's Swimming and Diving Championship on Sunday at the Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center Pool. The host Engineers topped the team standings with 1632.5 points as the final day of competition concluded at the NEWMAC Women's Swimming and Diving Championship with a revised timed finals schedule. Coast Guard was the runner-up (750 points) while Wellesley College finished third (651.5) and Babson College was fourth (530). WPI was fifth (515), followed by Smith in sixth (492), Wheaton in seventh (480) and Springfield in eighth (363). Clark was ninth (223) and Mount Holyoke took tenth (168).
Highlights
- Cady Dorrian (Jacksonville, FL/Douglas Anderson School of the Arts) (18:55.00) and Grace Magee (Portland, OR/Oregon Episcopal) (18:55.29) placed 13th and 14th, respectively in the 1650 free to start out the final day of competition.
- Katherine Welsh (St. Paul, MN/Saint Paul Academy) posted a sixth place finish on the 3-meter board with a score of 410.80 and was followed in ninth by Miranda Strunk (Lowell, MA/Lowell) with a 381.45.
- Magee earned a top-10 finish in the 200 back in 2:09.93, while Susannah Winfield (East Aurora, NY/East Aurora) touched the wall 10th in the 200 breast (2:28.77).
- Jessie Wang (Princeton, NJ/Princeton) added more points in the 200 fly, finishing in 10th place as they touched in 2:05.86
- In the final competition of the weekend, Smith's 400 relay team of Madeleine Lucas (Salem, MA/Salem), Jessie Wang (Princeton, NJ/Princeton), Emma Schultz (Hyattsville, MD/Elizabeth Seton), and Maggie Cline (Santee, CA/West Hills) clocked in at 3:37.56 to finish in sixth place.
" I am very proud of our total team effort. Our divers performed incredibly - especially on the final day in less than ideal circumstances. Our relays provided sparks throughout the weekend that galvanized the entire team. Once again, as they had done all season, our senior class provided excellent leadership that was instrumental in guiding our team through the inevitable nerves and ups and downs that come with championship weekend. The coaching staff provided positive energy consistently throughout the weekend - we are lucky to have coaches Louie, Laura, Katt, and Maya.
While we celebrate the 6th place finish and recognize it's the program's best finish in 18 years - we're going to continue to work to get better and better each season - but this season isn't finished. We are so excited and proud to continue to support Miranda and Katherine as they prepare for NCAA regionals this weekend at Connecticut College!
Up Next
Welsh and Strunk will compete at NCAA Diving Regionals Friday, February 27 and Saturday, February 28 hosted by Connecticut College.
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 on to GoSmithBears.com and follow us on Facebook, and Instagram.
