Sewell, Lyons compete well in tri-meet at Trinity College

Erin Schrama placed seventh in the 200-yard freestyle against competition from Trinity College and Vassar College in Hartford, Conn., on Jan. 11, 2023. (RJB Sports file photo)

HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Mount Holyoke College swimming and diving team kick-started the 2023 portion of the 2022-23 season by competing well in a tri-meet with Vassar and Trinity on Wednesday afternoon at Trinity, including a pair of diving wins by junior Maddy Sewell.

In head-to-head scoring, Mount Holyoke fell 197-95 to Trinity and 216-71 to Vassar, although the Lyons demonstrated great readiness for competitions to come, starting with this weekend's Sisters Invitational in the MHC Natatorium.

"We swam really well today, and it was great to see so many team members close to or set season bests at this time of the season," said head coach Dave Allen.

Sewell (Scottsdale, Ariz.) dominated her three diving competitors, scoring 244.65 points to win by over 80 points at 1 meter, and following that with 247.35 points at 3 meters to win by 91 points.

Other Mount Holyoke highlights included:

First-year Carolina Loayza (Fort Myers, Fla.) placed second in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:01.36. She was also seventh in the 100-yard freestyle (57.98).
Junior Evelyn Bushway (Schenectady, N.Y.) placed fourth in both the 1,000-yard freestyle (11:43.29) and the 200-yard breaststroke (2:40.91).
Junior Adji Diouf (Arlington, Va.) placed fourth in the 100-yard backstroke (1:07.28).
Sophomore Megan Schneider (Newton, Mass.) placed fourth in the 100-yard backstroke (1:15.58) and fifth in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:46.94).
First-year Gretchen Freisthler (Washington, D.C.) placed sixth in the 200-yard backstroke (2:28.85) and eighth in the 200-yard freestyle (2:16.84).
First-year Ruth Bailey (Edison, N.J.) placed sixth in the 50-yard freestyle (26.62).
Senior Erin Schrama (Providence, R.I.) placed seventh in the 200-yard freestyle (2:14.27).
Junior Lauren Brook (Woodinville, Wash.) placed sixth in the 500-yard freestyle (6:30.24).
Sophomore Lauren Madsen (Ghent, N.Y.) took seventh place in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:18.80).

The Sisters Invitational takes place Saturday and Sunday and includes Mount Holyoke, Simmons, Smith, Wellesley and Western New England. The first swim session begins Saturday at 11:30am, with a second session starting at 5pm, following 1-meter diving at 2:15pm. Sunday will begin with 3-meter diving beginning at 10:30am, followed by a swimming session starting at noon.