LEWISTON, Maine – The Wellesley College swimming and diving team dropped two close dual meets to NESCAC powers Connecticut College and Bates College at a tri-meet hosted by Bates on Saturday. The Blue were bested by Conn. 167-130, and fell to Bates 160-139.
Wellesley picked up six individual wins at the meet, as sophomores Emma Mrkonic, Keelin Nave and Hayley Goydan each recorded multiple event victories.
Mrkonic was a winner in both backstroke events, taking the 50-yard in a time of 29.09 and winning the 100-yard distance in 1:01.83. Mrkonic's time in the 100 bested her nearest competitor by nearly three seconds. First-year Veronica Lin also swam well in the 100, taking third place in a time of 1:04.92.
Nave picked up wins for Wellesley in the 100-butterfly and the 200-free, while also taking second in the 500-free. In the 100-fly, she touched the wall in a time of 59.26, while her winning time in the 200-free was a 1:56.80. In the 500-free, Nave took second place with a time of 5:19.01.
Goydan swept the diving events once again, recording a score of 264.35 on the 3-meter board, and tallying a score of 242.20 on the 1-meter board. Her 3-meter score was 53 points better than the second place finisher, while on the 1-meter, she topped the runner-up by 21 points.
Also swimming strong for the Blue were first-years Kendra Waters and Monica Gates, and sophomore Mariam Amirkhanashvili. Waters recorded a pair of third place finishes, swimming the 50-breast in 32.45, while recording a 1:10.97 in the 100-breast. Gates added a fourth place finish in the 50-fly with her time of 28.89 coming within six tenths of a second of second place. Rounding out the highlights for Wellesley, Amirkhanashvili finished third in the 100-free in 56.19, while taking fourth in the 50-free in 25.97. Her 50-free time was just .11 off of second place.
Today's action marked the final regular season competition for the Blue, who shifted to 7-4 in dual meets for the 2011-12 season. Wellesley will now gear up for the NEWMAC Championships, hosted by MIT on February 17-19th.
