Swisher, Mattheisen Lead Swimming & Diving over Babson, 135-77

BOSTON, Mass. ? Sophomore Miriam Swisher (Albuquerque, N.M.) won a pair of events and sophomore Jordan Mattheisen (Seattle, Wash.) tallied 13 points to lead the Simmons College women?s swimming & diving team over visiting Babson College, 135-77, this evening at the Holmes Sports Center Natatorium in Boston, Mass. The Sharks improve to 5-1 on the season, while the Beavers fall to 1-8.

BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore Miriam Swisher (Albuquerque, N.M.) won a pair of events and sophomore Jordan Mattheisen (Seattle, Wash.) tallied 13 points to lead the Simmons College women's swimming & diving team over visiting Babson College, 135-77, this evening at the Holmes Sports Center Natatorium in Boston, Mass. The Sharks improve to 5-1 on the season, while the Beavers fall to 1-8. 

Swisher won the 200-yard free style with a time of 2:02.62 to lead a sweep of the event for Simmons. Mattheisen finished second with a time of 2:11.74, while senior teammate Joleigh Ferro (Pittsfield, Mass.) hit the wall just after her with a mark of 2:11.75 to finish third. Swisher's second win of the night came in the 500 freestyle, where she clocked in with a personal-best 5:28.93, just missing the pool record by three-tenths of a second.

The Sharks also swept the 50-free with first year Natalie Giraldi (Bedford, N.H.) posting the top time of 27.11 in her first collegiate entry in the event, eclipsing sophomore teammate Sarah Price (New York, N.Y.) by three tenths of a second. First year Emily Papp (Newtown, Conn.) took the third spot with a time of 28.59. Giraldi also registered the top time in the 100-breaststroke at 1:15.04, but swam as an exhibition, while Babson sophomore Madeline Dupre (Fiskdale, Mass.) scored the win in the event with a time of 1:25.05. Dupre also scored points with a second-place showing in the 1000-free with a time of 12:43.51 as part of a 14-point night to lead all Beavers' swimmers. Junior Kevyn Lee (New York City, N.Y.) won the race with a time of 11:54.80.

Simmons took the top three spots in the 100-individual medley, paced by a first-place showing from senior Chloe Davis (Merrimack, N.H.) at 1:07.28, followed by first year Michaela Morris' (Duxbury, Mass.) mark of 1:10.14 and sophomore Hannah Plourde (Westfield, Mass.) at 1:10.81. The Sharks dominated the 100-free as well with all three swimmers finishing within four one-hundreths of a second of each other. Mattheisen clocked in at 1:00.03 to win the race for her first career win in the event and give her 13 points for the meet. Sophomore Julie Nguyen (Salem, Mass.) was literally right behind with a time of 1:00.06, while Papp hit the wall at 1:00.07. Morris also racked up 13 points for Simmons with a win in the 100-fly on a time of 1:04.02.

First year Reilly Robbins (Centerville, Mass.) joined Dupre as a winner for Babson, beating the field with a time of 1:07.91 to contribute to a nine-point night. Senior Kendall Ford (Geneva, Ill.) turned in a pair of second-place finishes for the Beavers, hitting the wall at 5:58.84 in the 500 free and clocking in at 1:09.28 in the 100-fly. The Beavers top scorer was sophomore Paris Ekman (Fargo, N.D.), who led all divers with 18 points. Ekman scored 237.10 points on the one-meter board, while first year Leyan Li (Deerfield, N.H.) posted a score of 146.20 in her collegiate debut for the Sharks. Sophomore Alison Gauvin (Whitefield, Maine) also competed in her first meet and scored 128.50 points for a third-place finish for the home squad. Ekman scored 252.35 points in the three-meter event, just missing the pool record by less than five points.

Simmons returns to the pool on Saturday, December 6 when it defends its crown at the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championships at the Holmes Sports Center at 10:30 a.m., while Babson competes again after the New Year with a tri-meet at Wellesley College with Coast Guard Academy on January 7 at 4:00 p.m.