Swimming & Diving Powers Past Western Connecticut State

Cathleen Pruden '16, shown during her junior season at Mount Holyoke, was named to the 25 Year All-NEWMAC team for women's swimming and diving on June 21, 2023.
Cathleen Pruden '16, shown during her junior season at Mount Holyoke, was named to the 25 Year All-NEWMAC team for women's swimming and diving on June 21, 2023.

DANBURY, Conn. – Senior Cathleen Pruden and first year Bri Groves both touched the wall for four first-place finishes as the Mount Holyoke College swimming & diving team defeated Western Connecticut State University, 155-77 on Saturday at the O'Neill Center Pool.

Pruden (Raleigh, N.C.) posted the top times in multiple events, including a 1:57.86 in the 200 Free, a 54.81 in the 100 Free, and a 2:10.81 in the 200 IM. Groves (Reston, Va.) notched 29.23 in the 50 Backstroke, a 1:11.82 in the 100 Breast, and a 28.38 in the 50 Butterfly. 

Other top finishers for the Lyons included sophomore Claire Beckett (Haslett, Mich.) with a 12:08.24 in the 1000 yard Freestyle, a :35.04 in the 50 Breaststroke, and a 5:56.58 in the 500 Free.  Junior Katie Tyler (Hadley, Mass.) with a 1:04.15 in the 100 Fly; freshman Kate Flaherty (Acton, Mass.) with a :27.98 in the 50 Free; and senior Emily Serio (Sturbridge, Mass.) with a 1:08.72 in the 100 Back.

The Mount Holyoke 200 Medley Relay team of Groves, Flaherty, Tyler, and Serio led off the meet with a victory in 2:02.70, and the team of first year Delany Berry (Collinsville, Conn.), sophomore Cailin Van Nevel (Gaithersburg, Md.), junior Anne Kuenning (Bow, N.H.), and Pruden took first in the 200 Free relay in 1:54.17 to close the meet.

The Colonials saw their victories come In the 1-meter diving, as sophomore Sarah Sheaffer's (New Fairfield, Conn.) first-place score was 143.70, followed in second place by team mate, sophomore Kelly Hessler (New Fairfield, CT) with 141.05.  In the 3-meter event, Sheaffer's winning total was 154.40, while Hessler again finished second, this time with a score of 133.90.

With the loss, Western now has a dual-meet record of 2-3 on the season, while Mount Holyoke improves to 3-1.  The Colonials return to action on Saturday, December 5, when they travel to Wesleyan University to participate in the Connecticut Cup beginning at 10:00am.

MHC returns to action on December 4 when it competes at the Hamilton Invitational, hosted by Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. Action begins on the Friday (4pm) and continues on Saturday (10am).

Meet release courtesy of Western Connecticut State Sports Information.