Strong debut for swimming and diving in NESCAC tri-meet
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HARTFORD, Conn. — The Bates College women’s swimming and diving team opened the 2008-09 season with a 197-103 win over Trinity College on Saturday afternoon as the Bobcat men and women took on the host Bantams and Wesleyan in a tri-meet at Trinity.
The Bates men recorded a number of strong performances while falling in team scoring to both Wesleyan (198-96) and Trinity (152-142). The women’s team lost in team scoring to Wesleyan, 179-119.
Behind the individual race results were some impressive achievements for the Bobcats: first-year swimmers contributed 14 all-time top 20 performances for the Bates swimming and diving programs; 37 times by Bates upperclassmen were faster than their times from last fall; and 13 times recorded were faster than all of last year’s dual-meet times.
On the men’s side, senior co-captain Christopher Berry (Augusta, Maine) took first place in the 50-yard backstroke, timing in at 26.03 seconds, and also touched the wall first in the 100 back, edging Trinity’s Andrew Boynton 56.44 seconds to 56.88.
First-year Ned Scott (Maplewood, N.J.) enjoyed an impressive debut for the Bates men, taking first place in the 100 butterfly with a time of 55.45 seconds and following that with a win and a in the 50 fly at 24.43 seconds, a new pool record at Trinity.
The Bates men took a close second in the 200 freestyle relay, with Scott, Berry, sophomore Peem Chatikavanij (Bangkok, Thailand) and first-year Nathaniel Depew (Hudson, Ohio) timing in at 1:29.61, just 0.2 seconds behind Wesleyan. They led off the meet with a second-place finish in the 200 medley relay, with Berry, first-year Dan Aupi (Branford, Conn.), Scott and senior co-captain William Walsh (Huntington, N.Y.) timing in at 1:42.10.
Senior six-time All-American diver Kelsey Lamdin (Brunswick, Maine) captured first place in the 1-meter diving with a mark of 220.75 points, and dominating the 3-meter diving event with a score of 245.95. First-year Jessica Howard (Cumberland Foreside, Maine) had an impressive debut, placing third in the 1-meter with 188.60 points and taking fourth in the 3-meter at 164.85.
Junior co-captain and one-time All-American Katelyn Drake (Hudson, Ohio) won the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:03.05. Drake also took a close second in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:18.62 and a close second in the 50 back, at 29.79 seconds.
Bates swept the top three positions in the 200 freestyle race, with sophomore Charlotte Green (New Canaan, Conn.) touching the wall first in 2:01.76, followed by first-year Kara Leasure (Los Alamos, N.M.) in 2:03.11 and first-year Emily Tato (Chatham, N.J.) in 2:03.37.
Leasure won first place in the 500 freestyle, timing in at 5:27.45.
Green also took a close second in both the 50 freestyle at 25.63 seconds and the 100 free at 55.40 seconds.
Other performances of note included Leasure placing second in the 1,000-yard freestyle, with a time of 11:03.63, just 1.35 seconds behind the frontrunner. First-year Sarah Fallon (Newburyport, Mass.) was a close second in the 50 breaststroke, with a time of 35.47 seconds. Tato placed second in the 100 breast at 1:14.97.
The Bates women led off the meet with a second-place performance (1:59.90) in the 200 medley relay, featuring Drake, Fallon, first-year Carole Lupi (Branford, Conn.) and first-year Tasha Dukuly (Lowell, Mass.). They also took second place in the 200 freestyle relay, with Dukuly, Tato, Leasure and Green timing in at 1:45.62.
Read the Bates swimming and diving season preview story
Go to the team blog, “The Bobcat Chronicle”