WATERVILLE, Maine – The Amherst College women's swimming and diving team posted three more All-NESCAC finishes on the final day of the NESCAC Championships to claim third place in the meet, which concluded on Sunday at Colby College.
Diving Coach
Kai Robinson '09 was named Diving Coach of the Year for the sixth time in his career after coaching
Sydney Bluestein to a sweep of the diving events and junior
Donna Zhang to a pair of All-NESCAC finishes. Bluestein was named Diver of the Year for the second time and was also the Career High Point Diver, concluding her NESCAC Championship career winning five of the eight diving events over the past four years.
The Mammoths tallied 1117 points to finish third of the 11 teams in the conference, edging host Colby by just five points to post a top-three finish for the eighth time in the last nine championships. Williams repeated as NESCAC champions with 1831 points, a 30.5 lead over Tufts.
Bluestein and Zhang will be back on the diving boards for the NCAA Northeast/North Diving Regional on February 28 and March 1 at Springfield College. The swimmers will return to competition for the NCAA Championships from March 19–22 in Greensboro, North Carolina. The top 20 student-athletes in each event will be invited to the national championship meet, with selections announced on Wednesday, Feb. 26.
MEET HIGHLIGHTS:
* Sophomore
Maeve Kelley was the runner-up in the 200-yard butterfly, swimming a personal-best time of 2:01.99 to earn a third All-NESCAC accolade of the meet with an NCAA B-cut time that ranks among the top 10 in Division III so far this season.
* Senior
Ali Lacroix notched an All-NESCAC finish for the second straight day with a third-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke, posting personal-best time of 2:16.13, an NCAA B-cut that ranks among the top 10 in Division III this season.
* Sophomore
Paige Arnold posted an NCAA B-cut in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 51.41 seconds to finish fifth in the final. It is the second individual B-cut of the meet for Arnold.
* Entering the final event of the meet with just a one-point lead over host Colby for third place, the Mammoths engineered a third-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay as sophomore
Lucy Smith, senior
Megan Lee, junior
Diane Koo and Arnold touched in 3:26.12, an NCAA B-cut time that ranks among the top 20 in Division III this season, to hold off the Mules and conclude the meet in third place.
