WORCESTER -- WPI women's swimming and diving hosted NEWMAC rivals, Babson, Coast Guard and Smith as well as Brandeis in its home opener. Scheduled on Halloween, the Engineers (2-4) defeated Brandeis 187.50-75.50, but fell 134-125 to Babson, 203-84 to Coast Guard and 160.50 to 132.50. The scores do not reflect the performances however, as WPI swimmers littered the top five and claimed victory in multiple events.
 
The team of Sarah Kang (Richmond, VA), Milena Whitney (Bedford, NH), Mallory LaPointe (Saint Johns, FL), and Katrina Waite (Falmouth, ME) combined to place 3rd in the opening 200 Medley, recording a result of 1:54.65. LaPointe came back two events later to win the 200 free, posting the lone sub-2:00 time in the field, hitting the wall in 1:58.79. The Florida native added to her win in the 200 free with a pair of top 5 finishes as she earned a 4th place finish in the 200 back, going 2:14.78, and 3rd place finish in the 200 IM, going 2:15.92.
 
The 200 back was a strong event for the Engineers as LaPointe's medley relay teammate, Kang won the event. She hit the wall in 2:10.84 with a margin of victory of 0.40. Kang also added another top 5 finish as her 1:00.82 in the 100 back earned her a 3rd place finish. Kang finished her evening swimming the 2nd leg of the women's 200 free relay. Teaming with Madison Harris (Upper Marlboro, MD), Audrey Cook (Wakefield, MA) and Whitney, the quartet finished 5th in a time of 1:46.23.
 
Cook had a very strong evening as she led strong finishes in both of the breaststroke events. The first year opened up her first meet at home with a pair of top-three finishes in both the 100 and 200. In the 100, Cook's 1:11.28 earned her 3rd place, and she was less than a second away from the win. Just behind Cook, finishing tied for 4th was Whitney, who posted a mark of 1:11.37. In the 200, Cook was one step closer to the win as she fell just .40 shy of the victory, earning 2nd place with a time of 2:35.54. Behind Cook were a pair of underclassmen as Jasmine Lam (Dracut, MA) and Whitney finished 5th and 6th respectively, separated by just .02 of a second at 2:35.90 and 2:35.92. 
 
The distance duo of Amber Jacobs (Cedar Falls, IA) and Allie Marvell (Nashua, NH) delivered a strong 1-2 punch in both the 1000 and 500 free. In the 1000, Jacobs held off a late charge from Marvell to claim a 2nd place finish with a time of 11:18.62, a little more than two seconds ahead of Marvell's 11:20.69. The 500 saw a reversal of order as the sophomore, Marvell, swam her way to a 3rd place finish in a time of 5:32.19, less than a second of Jacobs' 5th place finish of 5:32.87. 
 
The Engineers are next in action on Saturday, the 8th of November, as they host the Worcester City Championships against Assumption, Clark, and Holy Cross.   
 
Full Results
 
Team Scores