BIDDEFORD, Maine - Sophomore Kerry Fleming (Northampton, Mass.) finished first three times to lead the Simmons College women's swimming & diving team over host University of New England, 187-74, this afternoon at the Campus Center Pool in Biddeford, Maine. The Sharks improve to a perfect 6-0 on the season, while the Nor'easters fall to 3-2.

Simmons won 13 of 14 events, including a pair of sweeps.

Fleming was part of a relay win for the Sharks as well. Senior Hannah Plourde (Westfield, Mass.) racked up 22 points on a pair of first-place efforts and a second-place showing, while senior Miriam Swisher (Albuquerque, N.M.) also won two events for Simmons. Junior Michaela Morris (Duxbury, Mass.) totaled 17 points after scoring in three events, including a first-place effort, while sophomore Laura Simpson (Perkiomenville, Pa.) picked up a first-place finish to contribute to a 13-point afternoon.

Senior Lindsey Thomsen (Gorham, Maine) led University of New England with 17 points, including a first-place effort and a pair of second-place finishes. First year Taryn Leach (Durham, N.H.) tallied seven points with a second-place finish and a third-place showing.

Fleming won the 200-yard freestyle by a staggering eight-plus seconds, clocking in at 2:01.43 for the Sharks, before taking the 100-yard freestyle later in the day with a time of 56.26. She continued her dominance in the freestyle events with a win in the 500-yard event on a time of 5:28.89 as part of a 1-2-3 sweep for Simmons. She edged Simpson and senior Sarah Price (New York, N.Y.) placed third to give the Sharks the top three finishers. Fleming continued the freestyle theme by capping the meet as the lead leg of the winning 200-yard freestyle relay team. She was followed by first year Laura List (Bedford, Mass.), Simpson and Swisher to combine on a time of 1:44.28 to win the race by nearly six seconds.

Swisher began the afternoon for the visitors by swimming the backstroke leg of Simmons' first-place 200-yard medley relay victory. Junior Natalie Giraldi (Bedford, N.H.) swam the breaststroke followed by Morris in the butterfly and List in the freestyle to compile a mark of 1:55.52. Swisher went on to take the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 25.28 and also won the 200-yard backstroke by more than 13 seconds on a mark of 2:14.54 to improve to 11-1 in individual events and a perfect 11-0 in distances under 500 yards. 

Plourde took home the 200-yard breastroke by over six seconds with a time of 2:40.52 for the Sharks and led a 1-2-3 sweep of the 200-yard individual medley, touching the wall at 2:25.57, followed by Morris and senior Julie Nguyen (Salem, Mass.). Morris previously won the the 200-yard butterfly by nearly seven seconds with a time of 2:23.98 and Simpson dominated the 1650-yard freestyle by just over 66 seconds with a mark of 18:44.72. List earned a victory in the 50-yard backstroke with a time of 30.44 and Giraldi finished first in the 50-yard breaststroke in 32.06.

Thomsen's win came in the 50-yard butterfly for the Nor'easters, out-touching Morris by two-tenths of a second with a time of 28.41.

Simmons will be in action again on Saturday, December 3 when it competes in the first day of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Championship, while University of New England returns to the pool on the same day to compete in the Colby-Sawyer Invitational in New London, N.H. at 12:00 p.m.