WELLESLEY, Mass. (Nov. 5, 2011) – The Mount Holyoke College swimming and diving team kicked off its 2011-12 slate at the 15th annual Betty Spears Relays this afternoon. A total of seven squads from around the region participated in the non-scoring competition, which took place at Wellesley College's Chandler Pool. Senior Lydia Bowers set the tone for the Lyons, who posted five top-five finishes.
Mount Holyoke's top performance came in the 200-yard backstroke/freestyle race, where Bowers, junior Nora Cunningham, sophomore Leah Townsend and sophomore Sin Seanne Ng combined for a third place finish with their time of 1:52.16.
Cunningham, sophomore Allison Burhoe, first year Rachel Boynton and first year Rui Nozaki took home fourth place in the 500-yard freestyle crescendo relay with their time of 5:12.13.
Meanwhile, Bowers, Nozaki, Burhoe and Boynton joined forces to complete the 800-yard freestyle relay with a fifth place time of 8:42.75.
Mount Holyoke's 200-yard medley relay team of Ng, Bowers, first year Maya Lazarovich and sophomore Lauren Williams clocked a time of 1:59.10 to secure fifth place.
The Lyons also received a fifth place performance from Ng, Lazarovich, Williams and Bowers, who completed the 400-yard medley relay in 4:24.44.
Mount Holyoke will open up its home slate against Westfield State University on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.
