By Lindsay Regruto
Senior Writer
The women’s swimming and diving team earned a seventh-place finish at the three-day ECAC Championships last weekend in Annapolis, Md. The Bison ended the season on a strong note with a fourth-place finish by Lauren Perry ’15 in the 100 freestyle followed by a sixth-place finish by Kaitlyn Sweeney ’12 in the 200 fly. Perry’s finish at 51.93 moved her into the ninth spot on the program’s all-time top 10 list.
“ECACs was a great way to end our season,” Perry said. “All of our hard work throughout the year paid off, and I’m very proud of our team.”
The Bison’s performance on Saturday put them in sixth place overall at the end of the day. Tara Boyle ’15 earned a fifth-place finish on the three-meter springboard. The first-year’s score of 256.20 in the preliminaries moved her into fifth in program history. Jennifer Brennan ’14 secured a second-place finish for the Bison in the 100 backstroke. The Orange and Blue saw success in the 100 fly with three top 10 finishes. Elizabeth Porcellio ’13, Alex Panzarino ’14 and Sweeney finished seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively. Porcellio finished with a 57.34, seventh in school history. The Bison had a strong showing in the relays with a fourth-place finish in the 200 medley and a seventh-place finish in the 800 freestyle relay.
“Overall, ECACs was a fun meet with a really great atmosphere that allowed our swimmers to do well,” Panzarino said. “For our seniors it was their last races, so it was bittersweet to watch [them] finishing their swimming careers.”
On Friday, Perry earned a fifth-place finish in the 50 free while Tori Molchany ’15 took home a fifth-place finish on the one-meter diving board.
“ECACs was a very exciting meet this year. We had a lot more swimmers attend this year, and our excitement level was much higher. Going into the season, one of our team goals was to place [in the] top eight, so we were very happy that we got seventh place,” Caroline Higgins ’14 said.
Before traveling to ECACs, the team earned seven All-Patriot League Honors. Boyle and Perry earned first-team honors while Stephanie Koziol ’15, Katie Hetherington ’15, Kelly Pontecorvo ’14, Porcellio and Brennan all earned second-team honors.
