WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Paced by newcomer Elizabeth Park (Dix Hills, N.Y.) Wellesley College swimming & diving earned victories in 10 of 16 events to defeat New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) rival Wheaton College, 165-129, on Saturday at Chandler Pool.
Wellesley opens the season with a win for the second consecutive year. Wheaton, the number two team in the NEWMAC Preseason Coaches Poll, drop to 0-2 in dual meet action. The dual meet victory is the second straight for Wellesley over Wheaton, after the Blue earned a 144-143 win at the start of the 2018-19 season.
Park earned three individual victories and helped the Blue to a victory in the 200 Medley Relay in her collegiate debut. Park swam the second leg of a meet opening 200 Medley Relay win, as classmates Shawyuan Hsu (Taipei, Taiwan) and Lydia Choi (Seoul, South Korea) and sophomore Jessica Wegner (Taipei, Taiwan) helped the Blue to a time of 1:50.51. Park's breaststroke leg clocked in at 30.96 seconds.
Following the victory in the 200 Medley Relay, Park would go on to post event wins in the 100 and 200 Yard Breaststroke and the 200 IM. Park finished in 1:07:87 to win the 100 Breast and posted a time of 2:26.88 to take the 200. In the 200 IM, Park earned a time of 2:13.42, finishing just over three seconds ahead of Wegner. Wegner was second in 2:16.49 to earn a 1-2 Blue sweep of the event.
Last season's NEWMAC champion in the 100 Fly, Wegner also enjoyed a strong day in the season opener, winning her signature event in 1:00.07 and the 100 Backstroke with a time of 1:00.0 flat. Wegner was just tenths of a second ahead of Choi in the 100 Fly, as the Blue took the top-four spots in the event. Senior Maggie Haley (Shady Side, Md.) was third (1:01.01) and junior Hannah May (Cincinnati, Ohio) finished fourth (1:01.13).
Haley and May both recorded individual event victories of their own to help the Blue to the victory. Haley was first in the 200 Fly, finishing with a time of 2;14.84. May was the event winner in both the 100 and 200 Free before helping the Blue close out the day with a win in the 400 Free Relay. May took the 100 in 54.50 and the 200 in 1:58.26. Wellesley's 'A' relay of senior Danielle Peterson (Livingston, N.J.), sophomore Marisa Papagelis (Westborough, Mass.), Hsu, and May had the best time in the 400 Yard Freestyle Relay with a mark of 3:40.94.
Wheaton earned victories in both distance free events, while senior Maddy Morrison (Maple Grove, Minn.) captured both 1-Meter (235.45) and 3-Meter diving (235.30). Making her collegiate debut, Wellesley first year Lily Duff (Scituate, Mass.) was second on the 1-Meter board (222.30), while sophomore Emma Roberts (Boxford, Mass.) was the runner-up on the 3-Meter (216.95).
Wellesley will dive back into action next Saturday, November 9, with a 1:00 PM dual meet at Simmons. Wheaton will host Bridgewater St. on Wednesday evening, November 6, at 7:00 PM.
