CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Mount Holyoke College swimming & diving team concluded its first full-day of action at the 2018 New England Men's and Women's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championships on Friday. Through 14 events, the Lyons have seen several strong performances, including championship final appearances by both "A" relay teams.
The finals action opened with the 200-yard freestyle relay, which saw the Lyons "A" squad post 10th overall. The foursome of first years Tamara Mukulu, Riley Hicks and Caitlyn Richmond, along with senior Topaz Mukulu notched a time of 1:45.38. The "B" relay squad also finished solid as junior captain Delany Berry, first year Ashton Bliss, sophomore Natalie Burkett and senior Amy Lim were 19th in the consolation final with a time of 1:48.96.
Bliss went on to place 25th overall in the 500-yard freestyle, touching the wall with a mark of 5:28.01, while in the 200-yard individual medley, senior captain Claire Beckett earned 20th in the consolation final with a time of 2:16.95.
Sophomore diver Samantha Nemivant paced the effort for MHC on the 3-meter board, posting a score of 441.35 to place ninth overall. The Lyons also saw first years Katie Kolozsvari and Elise Malvicini in action as they finished 16th (338.70) and 20th (200.65), respectively.
Rounding out the meet's action was the 400-yard medley relay event. The Lyons saw Beckett, junior Bri Groves and rookies Naomi Brown and Tamara Mukulu post a time of 4:13.20. That time placed the group ninth overall in the championship final. In the consolation final, the foursome of first years Courtney Dunham, Gwen Evans, Bliss and Hicks were 18th in the consolation finals, achieving a time of 4:25.53.
Overall, the host Engineers lead the meet with 427 points. Wheaton College is second with 254 points, followed by Springfield (270.5), Coast Guard (214.5) and WPI (198) to round out the top-five.
The Lyons return to action on Saturday with the opening preliminaries beginning at 10am. Finals will take place at 6pm as the meet runs through Sunday.
