Women’s Swim Team Places Second in NESCAC Championship
Issue   |   Wed, 02/22/2012 - 02:15
Photo courtesy of Kate Berry '12
First-year Courtney Flynn swam for the third-place 400 medley relay team. She finished second in the 200 breaststroke and fourth in the 100 breaststroke.

The women’s swimming and diving team placed second in the NESCAC Championship for the seventh time in the past 11 years. Williams was dominant throughout the meet and claimed the top spot with 1826 points. The Jeffs scored 1460.5 points, and Tufts came in third with 1261.5.

The Jeffs ended day one of the NESCAC meet in third place, trailing Williams and Tufts. Diver Lizzy Linsmayer ’14 set a new school record in the one-meter diving event. Meggie Meisinger ’11 set the previous mark at last year’s NESCAC championships with a score of 413.40, but Linsmayer’s 440.29 blew Meisinger’s record out of the water. Linsmayer placed second in the event.

Sabrina Lee ’15, Courtney Flynn ’15, Allison Merz ’14 and Katie Vincett ’13 combined for a third-place finish in the 400 medley relay. The Jeff’s 200 freestyle relay was disqualified in the finals after finishing second in the qualifying round. Stephanie Ternullo ’15 placed third in the 500 freestyle, and co-captain Becca Thompson ’12 placed sixth. Vincett and Lulu Belak ’14 placed fourth and eighth in the 50 freestyle, and Aline Kim ’15 and Maddy Sprung-Keyser ’13 finished fifth and seventh, respectively, in the 50 backstroke. Lee and Merz placed eighth in the 200 IM and 50 butterfly, respectively.

Day two found the Jeffs holding third place, trailing Tufts by just 30 points. They opened the day with a sixth-place finish in the 200 medley relay. Ternullo was the runner-up in the 200 free, followed by Ashleigh Stoddart and Belak in fifth and seventh, respectively.

The Jeffs also had a strong showing in the 1,000-yeard free, with sophomores Anna Pietrantonio and Audrey Ingerson placing second and third, respectively. Pietrantonio was just 0.13 seconds behind the first-place finisher.

Lee and Nicole Heise ’13 placed third and eighth, respectively, in the 100 backstroke. Heise and Merz were seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 100 butterfly, and Flynn took fourth in the 100 breaststroke. Lee, Stoddart, Belak and Ternullo closed the day with a third-place finish in the 800 freestyle relay.

The Jeffs finished the meet strong, pulling ahead of Tufts to earn second place. Ternullo led the Jeffs in the 1,650 freestyle, finishing third. Thompson, Ingerson and Pietrantonio placed fourth, eighth and 10th, respectively, scoring enough points to pull the Jeffs into second after just one event.

Amherst also had a strong showing in the 200 backstroke, with Lee, Kim and Thompson finishing fourth, sixth and eighth, respectively. Vincett, Stoddart and Belak took fourth, fifth and seventh in the 100 free.

Flynn and Abby Hahn ’14 went two-three in the 200 breaststroke. Heise took fifth in a close 200 butterfly race, while Merz, just .44 seconds behind, placed eighth. Diver Linsmayer placed second on the three-meter board.

The Jeffs closed the meet with a second-place 400 freestyle relay. Vincett, Lee, Ternullo and Ricka Sadovnikoff ’15 finished two seconds behind the Williams team.

Twelve Jeffs were named to the All-NESCAC team for second- or third-place finishes in 22 events. Ternullo led the Jeffs with three individual and two relay honors.

The men’s NESCAC championship takes place at Williams this weekend.

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