Rochester, N.Y. - December 7, 2019 - The Mount Holyoke College swimming and diving team finished fifth overall out of seven teams competing at the Don Richards Invitational, a two-day meet hosted at the Rochester Institute of Technology on Friday and Saturday.
The Lyons produced 408 points over the course of the three sessions in the meet, and defeated both Bard, which took sixth, and Roberts Wesleyan, which was seventh.
On Friday night, the team of Caitlyn Richmond (Northampton, Mass.), Lauren Leese (Round Rock, Texas), Ashton Bliss (Yorktown, Va.) and Tamara Mukulu (Nairobi, Kenya) finished fifth overall with a time of 1:47.79, while in the 500 freestyle, Bliss came back with a ninth-place finish, touching in 5:36.32. First-year Erin Schrama (Taunton, Mass.) was Mount Holyoke College's top finisher in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:27.08, while in the 50 freestyle, Mukulu placed seventh with a mark of 25.69 seconds.
Wrapping up the swimming portion of Friday's session, the team of Anais Magner (Ohiwa, New Zealand), Schrama, Naomi Brown (Bloomington, Ind.) and Mukulu combined for a time of 4:27.94 in the 400 medley relay, good for fifth overall.
Senior Samantha Nemivant (Scottsdale, Ariz.) continued her impressive start to the season with a first-place finish on the one-meter board, producing a nationally-qualifying mark of 445.55 in the 11-dive competition, while Katie Kolozsvari (Danville, Ind.) also posted a nationally-qualifying mark of 397.45 and was second overall. Kathryn Murphy (Fairport, N.Y.) was third overall with a mark of 385.15.
The 200 medley relay was the first event of the Saturday morning session and the team of Magner, Schrama, Brown and Mukulu produced a fifth-place result with a time of 2:01.51, before Leese posted a 10th-place finish in the 400 individual medley, touching in 5:23.68. Mukulu scored eighth-place points for the Lyons with a finishing time of 1:04.05 in the 100 butterfly, while in the 200 freestyle, Gigi Picard (Wilmette, Ill.) was Mount Holyoke College's top finisher with a 12th-place time of 2:11.04.
Schrama turned in a time of 1:16.06 in the 100 breaststroke, which was good for 15th, before Magner posted the eighth-best time in the 100 backstroke, a 1:03.96. Bliss put forth an impressive effort in the 1650 freestyle as she posted a time of 19:03.78, which was good for third overall out of 14 competitors.
Nemivant and Kolozsvari continued their successful weekend on the three-meter board as the duo both posted nationally-qualifying scores. Nemivant was first overall, picking up her second victory of the weekend with a mark of 451.90, while Kolozsvari followed suit with a 422.80.
Magner was Mount Holyoke College's top finisher in the 200 backstroke to start off the Saturday afternoon session, before Mukulu notched a ninth-place finish in the 100 freestyle, clocking in at 57.69 seconds. Schrama finished 18th overall in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:43.64, while in the 200 butterfly, Bliss placed fifth overall with a time of 2:28.87.
Wrapping up the meet, the team of Bliss, Richmond, Schrama and Mukulu competed in the 400 freestlye relay and finished fifth with a combined time of 3:57.34.
The Lyons will return to competition on Friday, January 10 when Mount Holyoke College hosts a tri-meet with New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) foes Clark and Wheaton at 1 p.m.
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