CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Feb. 17, 2012) – The Mount Holyoke College swimming and diving team kicked off the 2012 NEWMAC Championships with several outstanding performances today at MIT. After six events, the Lyons sit in ninth place with 38 points. They were paced by first year Maya Lazarovich, who grabbed seventh place in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:15.86.

Seniors Lydia Bowers and Sarah Rooney joined forces with first year Rachel Boynton and sophomore Lauren Williams to post a sixth place time of 1:41.26 in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

Meanwhile, Boynton, Lazarovich, Williams and Bowers were disqualified in the 400-yard medley after clocking what would have been a new school record time of 4:07.07.

MIT jumped out to an early lead thanks to its overall team depth and three first place finishes. The Engineers will enter the second day with a 323-256 lead over Springfield College.

Tomorrow's preliminaries are slated to begin at 10:00 a.m. Finals are scheduled to get underway at 6:30 p.m.

Team Standings (Through Day 1)

1. MIT – 323
2. Springfield College – 256
3. Coast Guard Academy – 128.5
4. Wellesley College – 128
5. Wheaton College – 108.5
6. Clark University – 74
7. Smith College – 65
8. Babson College – 58
9. Mount Holyoke College – 38
10. WPI – 29