Swimming and diving team opens season well at home against Stonehill

Maddy Sewell qualified for NCAA Regionals in Mount Holyoke's opening swimming and diving meet of the 2022-23 season, on Oct. 29, 2022, as the Lyons hosted Stonehill. (RJB Sports file photo)

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College swimming and diving team passed an early-season test in its opening meet of the season Saturday at the Mount Holyoke Natatorium, competing well and and posting some event victories in a dual meet against Stonehill College.

A Division II program transitioning to Divison I, Stonehill scored 176 points to Mount Holyoke's 112 in team points.

Highlights for the host Lyons included:

First-year Carolina Loayza (Fort Myers, Fla.) won the 100-yard butterfly, outpacing six others with a time of 1:01.69. Loayza also placed second in the 100-yard freestyle in 57.31 seconds, just .05 seconds behind Stonehill's Iz Nelson, and second in the 50 butterfly in 27.41 seconds, only .03 seconds behind Stonehill's Sydney Stockwell.
Junior diver Maddy Sewell (Scottsdale, Ariz.) scored 257.90 points in 1-meter diving, quickly qualifying her for NCAA Regionals in February. Sewell also scored 243.70 points in 3-meter diving.
Sophomore Megan Schneider (Newton, Mass.) took first place in the 50-yard freestyle, beating Stonehill's Nelson by .04 seconds with a time of 26.61 seconds.
Sophomore Sophie Simon (Menlo Park, Calif.) scored 236.45 points in 3-meter diving, just 7.25 points behind Sewell. Simon also scored 229.10 points at 1 meter.
First-year Hannah Heierhoff (Wiesbaden, Germany) placed second in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:08.17, less than a second behind Stonehill's Nika Sokolova (2:07.24). Heierhoff also placed third in the 100 free (59.80) and third in the 50 butterfly (29.68).
Junior Eliza Williams (Andover, Mass.) placed second in the 1,000-yard freestyle, with a time of 11:56.28.
Junior Evelyn Bushway (Schenectady, N.Y.) took second place in the 500 freestyle (5:50.00).
First-year Ruth Bailey (Edison, N.J.) placed third in the 200 free, close behind Heierhoff in 2:08.37.
Junior Adji Diouf (Arlington, Va.) took third place in the 50-yard backstroke (31.04).
Mount Holyoke's top 400-yard medley relay team, comprising senior captain Anais Magner (Whakatane, New Zealand), Bushway, Loayza, and sophomore Kamlyn Yosick (Portland, Ore.), placed second in 4:21.40.
Mount Holyoke's top 400 freestyle relay team also placed second with a time of 4:07.10, with a team of Schneider, Yosick, Bailey, and Diouf.