SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – The Mount Holyoke College swimming & diving team kicked-off its season in fine fashion on Friday evening, picking up several wins in a tough meet against Assumption College. The Greyhounds pulled away with a 157-114 victory, but the Lyons saw sophomore Bri Groves lead the way with three individual victories and a relay win.
MHC opened the meet with a solid start as senior Anne Kuenning (Bow, N.H./Bow), Groves (Reston, Va./South Lakes) and seniors Katie Tyler (Hadley, Mass./Hopkins Academy) and Emily Craig (Rochester, N.Y./Gates-Chili Senior) swam to victory in the 200-yard medley relay. The foursome posted a time of 1:54.46.
In the 1,000-yard freestyle, first year Natalie Burkett (Framingham, Mass./Framingham) opened her collegiate career with a fifth-place finish. She notched a time of 12:16.52. In the 200-yard free, Craig – a captain – swam to fifth with a mark of 2:06.76, while in the 100-yard backstroke, Kuenning was second overall with a time of 1:03.57.
Groves earned her first individual win of the meet in the 100-yard breaststroke, posting a time of 1:09.72. The Lyons grabbed another victory in the 50-yard free as Tyler touched the wall first with a mark of 25.79.
In the 100-yard free, Craig swam to fourth overall with a time of 57.60, while in the 200-yard back, Kuenning once again took second with a time of 2:18.91. In the 200-yard breast, junior Amy Lim (San Francisco, Calif./Lowell) was fifth with a time of 2:56.48.
Groves rounded out the individual swims with two more victories, touching the wall first in the 100-yard butterfly with a mark of 1:00.77, while also claiming the win in the 200-yard individual medley. She recorded a time of 2:15.77 in the event, besting the second-place finisher by almost seven seconds (2:21.05).
In diving, Lyons first year Samantha Nemivant (Scottsdale, Ariz./Notre Dame Prep) picked up her first collegiate wins, taking the 1-meter board by a score of 247.20 points. She was also victorious on the 3-meter board, notching 198.45 points.
Rounding out the action was the foursome of Kuenning, Burkett, sophomore Delany Berry (Collinsville, Conn./Canton) and Lim, who posted a time of 1:53.26 in the 200-yard free relay to finish first overall.
Mount Holyoke is right back in action on Saturday when it competes at the Smith College Relays. Action begins at 10:30am.
