SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (Nov. 17, 2012) – Fresh off its victory on Friday, the Mount Holyoke College swimming & diving team cruised to a 148-66 win against Western Connecticut State on Saturday afternoon at the MHC Natatorium. The Lyons move to 3-1 in dual meet action this season, while the Colonials slip to 1-3 on the season.
As has been the running theme for Mount Holyoke since the start of the 2012-13 campaign, two school records fell in today's meet, both by first year Cathleen Pruden (Raleigh, N.C./Ravencroft School). She started with a victory in the 200-butterfly, posting a time of 2:12.71 for the new program mark. Her time was nearly four seconds faster than Heather Superson '06, who previously set the record in 2004 with a time of 2:16.04.
Pruden then touched the wall first in the 200-individual medley with a time of 2:12.68. That mark was over two seconds faster than the time set by Lindsay Schonborn '10 in 2010 of 2:14.79.
The Lyons kick-started the meet with a win in the victory in the 200-medley relay as the foursome of junior Lauren Williams (Kingston, Jamaica/Baylor School (Tenn.), senior Lindsey Kanno (Cranston, R.I./Cranston East), first year Bethany Aban (Poulsbo, Wash./North Kitsap) and sophomore Maya Lazarovich (South Burlington, Vt./South Burlington) posted a time of 1:59.85.
After a victory by sophomore Rachel Boynton (Northampton, Mass./Northampton) in the 1000-free (11:49.63), first year Erica Carvell (Aurora, Ill./Metea Valley) swam away with the win in the 200-free. Her time of 2:07.16 was nearly 14 seconds faster than second-place finisher Sarah Basile (Plainville, Conn./Plainville) from Western Connecticut State.
Williams continued the momentum for the Lyons with a win the 50-backstroke (31.03), followed by a victory from Kanno in the 50-breaststroke with a time of 33.59. Carvell went on to claim her second win of the day in the 100-free, posting a time of 58.93, while Williams added her third of the afternoon in the 200-back with a mark of 2:21.95.
Western Connecticut gained ground in the 500-free as Basile claimed victory with a time of 6:32.57. She was followed by teammate Kayla DeLuca (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire), who was runner-up with a time of 6:46.82.
The Colonials then saw junior Danielle Leprine (New Fairfield, Conn./New Fairfield) win the 50-fly with a time of 30.96, while teammate Olivia Martin (Torrington, Conn./Torrington) was second with a mark of 35.46. Western Connecticut wrapped up the meet with a victory in the 200-free relay as Leprine, junior Dana Malloy (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster), Martin and Basile posted a time of 2:02.36.
In the diving events, Mount Holyoke's Catrina Bellucci-DiLizia (Springfield, Mass./Home schooled) won off both the 1-meter and the 3-meter with scores of 178.90 and 161.05, respectively.
Mount Holyoke is now idle for the Thanksgiving break, but returns to the pool on December 1st, hosting the MHC Invitational at 10am. Western Connecticut State is also back in action on December 1st, competing in the Little East Conference Championship, hosted by UMass-Dartmouth at 11am.
