WORCESTER -- The WPI Women's Swimming and Diving (6-9) team emerged victorious after a hard-fought dual meet against NEWMAC rival, Wheaton, with a score of 153-135, handing the visiting Lyons just their second loss on the season. The win was a team effort as multiple swimmers won events, and the team's depth helped earn those vital points for 3rd and 4th place. 
 
Seniors Leah Kolb (Canton, MI) and Kristina MacLeod (Jackson, WY) bookended the winning 200 medley relay as the pair combined with first-years Milena Whitney (Bedford, NH) and Sarah Kang (Richmond, VA) to record a result of 1:49.26. Whitney had a great day as she swept the breaststroke events, taking the 100 breast in 1:08.97 and the 200 in 2:34.91. In both events, fellow first-years Niamh O'Sullivan (Basking Ridge, NJ) and Alia Ureta (Hackensack, NJ) placed 3rd hitting the wall in 1:12.22 and 2:39.41 respectively, helping increase the point totals from those events.
 
Whitney wasn't alone in the event wins, as Kang too claimed a pair of wins. The Virginia native was just out touched in the 100 back as her 59.61 was just .35 off the win, but she came back later in the meet to win the 200 back, recording the only sub-2:10.00 result (2:08.16). She then took the 100 fly in 59.71 ahead of fellow first-year Veronica Finucane-Tuccio (Excelsior, MN), who nabbed 2nd in 1:01.79.
 
Finucane-Tuccio wouldn't have been too disappointed by placing second in the 100 as she dropped a hammer of a 200 fly, slicing 6.05 seconds off her seed time to win the event by over three seconds, recording a time of 2:14.07 and earning herself a new PB.
 
She wasn't the only swimmer to PB, however, as MacLeod recorded a new best in the 100 free. After leading WPI to a 2-3-4 finish in the 200 free (2:01.34), MacLeod would be just out touched in the 50 and 100 free. In both events, the senior placed 2nd by the slimmest of margins, with .01 separating her from the competition. In the 50, she hit the wall in 24.86 and in the 100, she stopped the clock in 54.24, chopping .04 off her PB from last year's NEWMACs. 
 
Fellow senior, Lada DiMascolo (Puyallup, WA) placed 4th in both the 1000 (11:20.18) and the 500 (5:30.58) but ended the meet with a victory in the 200 IM, as they hit the wall in a time of 2:14.92, winning by a margin of just .22. 
 
On the diving board, Junior Katrina Yurista (Laramie, WY) added valuable points, with a pair of second places, scoring 231.30 points on the 1m and 189.97 on the 3m. 
 
WPI will end the week with a home and away as the team travels to Roger Williams this Friday (1/24) for the start of the Menck Invite and will then host RWU on Saturday, during which the team will recognize the Seniors. Friday's meet starts at 4pm and Saturday's action kicks off at 1pm.
 
Results