STANDISH, Maine - Junior Miriam Swisher (Albuquerque, N.M.) placed first in a pair of events to lead the Simmons College womens' swimming & diving team over host Saint Joseph's College (Maine), 218-38, this afternoon in Standish, Maine. The Sharks improve to 7-1 on the season, while the Monks fall to 1-5.
Simmons won all 14 events and swept the top three spots in nine of 12 individual races.
Swisher won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 26.43 and dominated the 200-yard backstroke with a mark of 2:13.23 to win the event by more than 18 seconds. She swam the lead backstroke leg of the 200-yard medley relay, helping the Sharks win the race with sophomore Natalie Giraldi (Bedford, N.H.) swimming the breaststroke leg, sophomore Lindsay Nichols (Kennebunk, Maine) swimming the butterfly length and first year Kerry Fleming (Northampton, Mass.) swimming the anchor freestyle leg, combining for a time of 2:00.74 to win by more than nine seconds.
First year Laura Simpson (Perkiomenville, Pa.) also won a pair of events to tally 18 points for Simmons. The rookie won the 1000-yard freestyle by over 81 seconds with a mark of 11:13.45 and showed her versatility by winning the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 58.25.
Fleming earned a win in the 200-yard freestyle by more than 10 seconds for the Sharks, clocking in at 2:01.35, while Nichols hit the wall first in the 50-yard backstroke with a time of 32.38.
Juniors Sarah Price (New York, N.Y.) and Hannah Plourde (Westfield, Mass.) joined first year Charlotte Rivard (Norwood, Mass.) and Giraldi as the team's third-leading scorers on the day with 13 points each, thanks to a first and second place finish, respectively. Price finished ahead of the field in the 200-yard breaststroke with a mark of 2:45.00 and Rivard surged to the wall first in the 50-yard butterfly at 30.29. Giraldi placed first in the 50-yard breaststroke in 33.56 and Plourde placed first in the 400-yard individual medley to close out the individual events for the Sharks, recording a time of 5:19.89.
Sophomore Michaela Morris (Duxbury, Mass.) easily won the 200-yard butterfly by more than 13 seconds with a time of 2:25.04 for Simmons, while senior Kevyn Lee (New York City, N.Y.) won by just over five seconds in the 500-yard freestyle on a time of 5:56.92.
Simmons also won the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:54.45 as Fleming set the pace on the opening leg, followed by junior Jordan Mattheisen (Seattle, Wash.), first year Kara Smith (Eastham, Mass.) and senior Alex Vutech (Woodstock, Vt.).
Seniors Annie Fougere (Warner, N.H.) and Brooke Huberdeau (North Andover, Mass.) joined first year Julia Rowlett (Saco, Maine) as Saint Joseph's leading scorers with seven points apiece. Fougere placed third in the 50-breaststroke with a time of 38.42 and also finished fourth in both the 50-freestyle and 400-individual medley events. Huberdeau contributed in the freestyle events, turning in a third-place effort in the 500 on a mark of 6:18.30 and added fourth-place finishes in the 200 and 100 events. Rowlett finished third in the 50-butterfly, hitting the wall at 32.69 after recording fourth place showings in the 200-butterfly and 200-backstroke.
The Sharks return to the water on Saturday, January 16 when they compete in a double-dual meet in Weston, Mass., taking on host Regis College and Colby-Sawyer College at 11:00 a.m. The Monks will swim again on January 18, hosting University of New England at 1:00 p.m.