New London, CT --- Powered by a pair of victories by Sonja Kent (West Boylston, MA) and Emily Martin (Penfield, NY) and a key second-place finish by the 400-yard freestyle relay team, the WPI women's swimming and diving team edged out NEWMAC foe Coast Guard for the first time in the 35-year history between the two women's programs, claiming a narrow 139-138 triumph in a tri-meet with the host Bears (1-4) and Division I Providence. The Engineers (5-1) fell to the Friars (2-4) by a score of 183-97.
The competition between WPI and Coast Guard came down to the final event as the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Tori Claverie (Derry, NH), Eva Childers (Henniker, NH), Amanda Konieczny (West Springfield, MA), and Martin raced to a 3:45.86 finish, just .16 quicker than the Bears to seal the victory.
Kent captured the 1000-yard freestyle (11:00.61) and 500-yard freestyle (5:25.43) as Martin touched the wall first in the 200-yard butterfly (2:16.80), 200-yard individual medley (2:15.20). Veronica Nikolaki (Athens, Greece) also picked up a win for the Crimson and Gray as she amassed 275.32 points on the 1-meter board. Nikolai reached the NCAA provisional qualifying standard and set a new pool record at Coast Guard. Martin's 200-yard IM time also set a new standard in New London in an historic meet for WPI.
The Bears' only victory came in the 100-yard butterfly, won by Chantel Ferguson (Spokane, WA) in 1:02.29. She was followed closely by teammate Kaitlyn Toth (Silver Spring, MD), coming in at 1:02.50. The Engineers' Nysa Casha (Andover, MA) was finished third in 1:02.93, just .64 off the winning time.
Jill Mullany (Monroe, CT) paced the Friars, winning three solo events and one relay. Mullany took the 50-yard freestyle (24.99), 100-yard freestyle (54.24), and 200-yard freestyle (1:59.02), along with anchoring a winning 400-yard freestyle relay team (3:40.77) that also included Reilly O'Connell (West Barnstable, MA), Kelly O'Neill (Rye, NY) and Mary McKenna (Wethersfield, CT).
She was joined in her success by fellow Friar Leia Federiconi (Wiliamsville, NY) who won the 100-yard breaststroke 1:09.09, the 200-yard breaststroke (2:31.36), and then swam in a winning 200-yard medley relay (1:54.02) that also included O'Neill, O'Connell and Kelly Hall (Morristown, NJ).
Helen Smith (Belmont, MA) was also a double winner for PC, taking victories in the 100-yard backstroke (1:02.34) and 200-yard backstroke (2:12.26).
The Engineers venture to Roger Williams on Friday for a 5pm meet while Coast Guard heads to Connecticut College for an intra-city showdown on Saturday at 1pm. Providence, meanwhile, participates in the two-day Harold Anderson Invitational hosted by URI beginning on Friday at 5pm.
