CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - It was another outstanding day of action for the Mount Holyoke College swimming and diving team, who moved into eighth overall after day three of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships, hosted by MIT.
The Lyons were paced on Saturday by senior captain Cathleen Pruden, who won her fourth consecutive 400-yard individual medley title. Pruden (Raleigh, N.C./Ravenscroft School) won her fourth straight title in record fashion on Saturday, posting a time of 4:21.77.
That time was not only nearly a full 10 seconds faster than the second-place finisher (4:30.03), but also eclipsed her own NEWMAC Open and Meet, as well as school record, set at last year's conference championships. It was also the fourth straight year that Pruden eclipsed the conference open and meet record in the event.
Junior Anne Kuenning (Bow, N.H./Bow) also competed in the championship round on Saturday, finishing ninth in the 100-yard backstroke. She touched the wall in a time of 1:00.13.
Other individual performances included a 19th-place finish by junior Katie Tyler (Hadley, Mass./Hopkins Academy), who posted a time of 1:01.81 in the 100-yard butterfly consolation finals. First year Bri Groves (Reston, Va./South Lakes) also competed in the round, placing 20th overall with a time of 1:06.68.
Senior captain Sarah Crocker (Sacramento, Calif./C.K. McClatchy) placed 20th in the 100-yard breaststroke consolation finals with a time of 1:10.84, while junior captain Emily Craig (Rochester, N.Y./Gates-Chili Senior) was 17th overall in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:59.18.
Rounding out the evening was the 200-yard medley relay, which saw the Lyons 'A' squad finish seventh in the championship finals with a time of 1:50.81. That mark was just off the school record time from 2015 (1:50.25). Members of the foursome included Kuenning, Pruden, Crocker and Tyler.
The Lyons 'B' relay team also competed in the event, finishing 18th overall in the consolation finals with a time of 1:58.79. Members of the group included senior Emily Serio (Sturbridge, Mass./Tantastqua Regional), sophomores Claire Beckett (Haslett, Mich./Haslett) and Topaz Mukulu (Nairobi, Kenya/Brookhouse International) and first year Kate Flaherty (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxborough Regional).
Fans who are unable to make the drive to MIT for the final day of this year's championship can follow via live stats by clicking HERE, or watch online HERE. Fans can also visit the championship website HERE.
