Swimming and diving dominates Westfield State in home opener

Mount Holyoke senior Maddy Sewell posted qualifying scores for NCAA Regionals in both 1-meter and 3-meter diving in her season debut on Nov. 11, 2023. (File photo by Alex Gutierrez/WPI Athletics)

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke College swimming and diving team enjoyed an impressive home opening meet on Saturday against Westfield State, posting the best marks in all but one event en route to a 152-79 win over the Owls.

Senior two-time All-NEWMAC diver Maddy Sewell (Scottsdale, Ariz.) shined in her first competition of the season, immediately qualifying for NCAA Regionals with outstanding scores in both 1-meter (266.00 points) and 3-meter (265.70) diving.

Mount Holyoke led off the meet with a 4-second-plus win in the 400-yard medley relay, with senior captain Adji Diouf (Arlington, Va.), junior Lauren Madsen (Ghent, N.Y.), sophomore Carolina Loayza (Fort Myers, Fla.), and junior Megan Schneider (Newton, Mass.) finishing in 4:24.43.

Other Lyons highlights included:

Senior Evelyn Bushway (Schenectady, N.Y.) posted the day's fastest times in three events: the 1,000-yard freestyle (12:01.60), the 200-yard breaststroke (2:41.45), and the 200-yard individual medley (2:25.52).
Loayza had the fastest times of the day in three individual events: the 50-yard freestyle (26.46 seconds), the 100 free (58.47), and hte 100 fly (1:01.13).
First-year Isabel Dunn (Harbor Springs, Mich.) won the 100-yard backstroke in 1:07.19
Schneider took first place in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:15.42)
First-year Maddy Ache (Silver Spring, Md.) was second (26.66) and Diouf was third (26.85) in a competitive 100-freestyle finish.
Junior Hannah Heierhoff (Wiesbaden, Germany) had a dominant win in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:29.58, and nipped sophomore Gretchen Freisthler (Washington, D.C.) in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:26.66 to 2:27.80.
First-year Hermione Hatch (Vail, Ariz.) took second place in 1-meter diving in Hatch's collegiate debut, scoring 128.65 points.
Mount Holyoke finished the day with the meet's fastest 400 freestyle relay team of Schneider, junior Annabeth Loftman (Menlo Park, Calif.), senior Alexa Veliz (Tequisquiapan, Mexico) and Bushway posting a time of 4:12.92.