SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - The Lyons posted victories in 12 of 16 events to defeat Western Connecticut State University by a 187-80 margin on Saturday at the MHC Natatorium. Mount Holyoke moves to 3-1 in dual meet action this season, while the Colonials slip to 1-3 overall.
MHC opened the meet with a time of 1:55.23 to win the 200-medley relay. The foursome included sophomore Anne Kuenning (Bow, N.H./Bow), senior Maya Lazarovich (South Burlington, Vt./South Burlington), and sophomores Katie Tyler (Hadley, Mass./Hopkins Academy) and Emily Craig (Rochester, N.Y./Gates-Chili Senior).
Junior Cathleen Pruden (Raleigh, N.C./Ravenscroft School) followed with a dominant display in the 1000-freestyle, posting a time of 10:35.14 - nearly a minute and a half faster than the closest competitor. First year Willa Holmes (Portland, Ore./Catlin Gabel School) was the victor in the 200-free, notching a time of 2:03.74, while Kuenning and Lazarovich each claimed wins in the 100-backstroke (1:01.92) and the 100-breaststroke (1:11.50), respectively.
Craig touched the wall first in the 50-free with a time of 26.42, while Tyler captured the 100-free with a mark of 56.36. Kuenning grabbed her second individual win of the day in the 200-back with a time of 2:13.40, while Pruden was the winner in the 200-breast with a school record time of 2:25.44.
In the 500-free, senior Rui Nozaki (Rio Rancho, N.M./Rio Rancho) won with a time of 5:50.28, while junior Kelly Sin Ee Lim (Melaka, Malaysia/Taylor's College Sri Hartamas) won the 3-meter diving event with a score of 187.10.
For Western Connecticut State, junior Dana Molloy (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) won off the 1-meter board with a score of 175.60. First year Brianna Christiano (Prospect, Conn./Woodland) was the first-place finisher in the 100-butterfly with a mark of 1:08.88, while also capturing the 100-IM with a time of 1:12.02.
The Colonials also grabbed first in the 200-free relay as the foursome of Kelly Hessler (New Fairfield, Conn./New Fairfield), Maria Carranza (Prospect, Conn./Woodland), Ashlyn LaVallee (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Eastern) and Sarah Basile (Plainville, Conn./Plainville) posted a time of 2:02.35.
MHC is now idle through the holiday break, but returns to action on Saturday, December 6 when it competes at the Gompei Invitational, hosted by WPI. Action runs through Sunday. Western Connecticut State will also be idle over the Thanksgiving holiday, returning to action on December 6 at UMass-Dartmouth for the Little East Conference Championships.
