CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Mount Holyoke College swimming & diving team got off to a solid start at the 2016 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships on Thursday evening at MIT's Zesiger Sports and Fitness Center Pool. After the opening event of the action, the Lyons sit eighth overall in the 10 team field.

The Lyons competed in the only women's event of the evening, the 800-yard freestyle relay. The foursome of senior captain Cathleen Pruden (Raleigh, N.C./Ravenscroft School), first year Bri Groves (Reston, Va./South Lakes), senior Erica Carvell (Chicago, Ill./Metea Valley) and junior captain Emily Craig (Rochester, N.Y./Gates-Chili Senior) posted a time of 7:55.52.

That time was good enough for seventh overall in the field of 19 relay squads and was also a new MHC program record. The previous record of 7:56.08 was set back in 2014 by Maya Lazarovich '15, Carvell, Craig and Pruden.

Additionally, Pruden also eclipsed her own school record in the 200-yard freestyle with her relay effort. Swimming the opening leg of Thursday's 800-free, she posted a 200 time of 1:53.48, which shattered her previous mark of 1:55.03, set back in 2014.

The first full day of action at the NEWMAC Championships begins on Friday at 10am with the preliminary trials. Finals will start at 6:30pm on both Friday and Saturday evening, with a 6pm start time on Sunday. Prelims each day will be at 10am.

Fans who are unable to make the drive to MIT can follow via live stats by clicking HERE, or watch online HERE. Fans can also visit the championship website HERE.

Cover photo of the awards ceremony from Thursday's 800-free relay, featuring the Lyons group in the seventh position, courtesy of MIT DAPER Athletic Communications.