South Hadley, Mass. - February 24, 2022 - Following an impressive 2022 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Swimming and Diving Championships this past weekend, Mount Holyoke College's Rachael Araujo was selected as the NEWMAC Women's Diving Co-Coach of the Year, announced on Thursday afternoon by the league office.

This will be Araujo's second time being recognized by the NEWMAC as she became the first-ever diving coach at Mount Holyoke College to earn NEWMAC Coach of the Year honors in 2020. 

"It is wonderful to see Coach Araujo's fellow coaches recognize her again as the conference Diving Co-Coach of the Year," said head Mount Holyoke College swimming and diving coach Dave Allen. "Rachael is an amazing diving coach that has an ability to relate to her divers and continues to develop their talent during their time at Mount Holyoke. Rachael has coached a number of divers to the regional diving meet and nationals. She goes above and beyond her role to support all members of the team, including the coaching staff. It has been my pleasure to coach alongside Coach Araujo for the past 10 years. This is a well deserved honor."

Under Araujo's leadership, it has been an impressive season for the Mount Holyoke College diving crew, which is led by senior Kathryn Murphy (Fairport, N.Y.) who was named the NEWMAC Women's Diver of the Week two times during the 2021-22 season. Murphy's season has been highlighted thus far by an impressive performance on the three-meter board at the 2022 NEWMAC Swimming and Diving Championships as the senior took the victory with a final 11-dive score of 491.55. This marks a Mount Holyoke College swimming and diving program record by 15.35 points in the three-meter 11-dive board.

Following Murphy was first-year Sophie Simon (Menlo Park, Calif.) who had a strong season by posting a fourth-place finish on the three-meter board at the 2022 NEWMAC Championships with a score of 433.80. Classmate Lilje Stratton (Bellevue, Wash.) finished seventh overall by posting a score of 363.70.

In the one-meter board at the 2022 NEWMAC Championships, Murphy took a third-place overall finish by notching a score of 421.55. Simon followed taking fifth overall by producing a score of 368.10, while Stratton claimed tenth place with a score of 338.30.

Araujo, Murphy, and Simon will advance to the NCAA Division III Diving Regionals hosted by Smith College in Northampton, Mass. on Friday, February 25.

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