Northampton, Mass. - October 26, 2019 - The Mount Holyoke College swimming and diving team opened the 2019-20 campaign on Saturday afternoon, as the Lyons competed at the Smith College Relays in Northampton.
Highlighting Mount Holyoke College's performance on Saturday was a victory in the 3x100 backstroke relay, as well as senior Samantha Nemivant (Scottsdale, Ariz.) winning an individual title on both the one-meter and three-meter diving boards.
Kicking the day off with the 200 yard medley relay, the team of Anais Magner (Ohiwa, New Zealand), Adrienne Corr (San Diego, Calif.), Tamara Mukulu (Nairobi, Kenya) and Naomi Brown (Bloomington, Ind.) took third overall with a time of 2:07.20. Next, in the 800 yard freestyle relay, the team of Gigi Picard (Wilmette, Ill.), Riley Hicks (Bow, N.H.), Natalie Burkett (Framingham, Mass.) and Ashton Bliss (Yorktown, Va.) was second, combining for a time of 9:06.32.
The team of Caitlyn Richmond (Northampton, Mass.), Corr and Magner put forth a solid effort in the 3x100 backstroke relay, as the trio won with a time of 3:24.65, while in the 3x100 yard breaststroke relay, Corr, Shloka Gidwani (Mumbai, India) and Lauren Leese (Round Rock, Texas) combined for a time of 4:11.66 which was good for third in the event.
Picard, Jane Zhang (Fresh Meadows, N.Y.), Richmond and Mukulu came in second in the 200 freestyle relay, as Mukulu anchored the team with a split of 25.93 to give the team a final time of 1:52.72, while in the 400 medley relay, the team of Sarah Ratzlaff (Salt Lake City, Utah), Gidwani, Brown and Picard produced a time of 4:57.66 for a third-place finish.
In the last few relays of the day, the team of Leese, Erin Schrama (Taunton, Mass.) and Mukulu was third in the 3x100 medley relay with a time of 3:23.65, while Brown, Zhang, Schrama and Bliss combined for a time of 2:08.30 to finish third in the 200 butterfly relay.
Richmond, Corr, Leese and Magner were second in the 200 backstroke relay with a combined time of 2:05.91, while in the 200 breaststroke relay, Leese, Picard, Schrama and Mukulu were second with a time of 2:29.69.
Wrapping up the meet, Bliss, Magner, Hicks and Burkett was the top team for Mount Holyoke College in the 400 freestyle relay, as this group was second overall with a time of 4:14.49.
On the diving boards, Nemivant was spectacular as the senior produced a score of 239.47 on the one-meter to take first overall, before delivering a score of 237.59 on the three-meter board, also good for first. Katie Kolozsvari (Danville, Ind.) was third on the three-meter with a score of 209.32, while the junior was also third on the one-meter with a mark of 219.14.
Up next, Mount Holyoke College will host the University of New England on Saturday, November 9 at 1 p.m.
