BOSTON, Mass. – Junior Natalie Giraldi (Bedford, N.H.) scored 21 points, including a pair of first place finishes to lead the Simmons College women's swimming & diving team over visiting Plymouth State University, 222-61, in a dual meet this afternoon at the Holmes Sports Center Natatorium in Boston, Mass. The Sharks improve to a perfect 7-0 on the season, while the Panthers fall to 4-2.
Simmons won 14 of 16 events on the day and recorded 1-2-3 sweeps in seven different races.
Giraldi won the 50-yard breaststroke by over four seconds with a mark of 31.92 for the Sharks, before taking first place in the 50-yard free style with a time of 26.53 to win by almost a second and a half. She also added a third-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle as part of a Simmons sweep. Sophomore Kerry Fleming (Northampton, Mass.) earned a 20-plus second victory in the 500 with a time 5:32.32. She later claimed first place in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:22.08 to win by nearly seven seconds and lead another sweep for the Sharks. Giraldi (breaststroke) and Fleming (freestyle) were also a part of Simmons' win in the 200-yard medley relay with first year Laura List (Bedford, Mass.) opening the race in the backstroke and junior Michaela Morris (Duxbury, Mass.) swimming the butterfly leg to contribute to a time of 1:59.98. List also won a pair of events for the home team, hitting the wall first with a time of 31:08 in the 50-yard backstroke to win by nearly three seconds, before registering a first-place effort to lead a team sweep in the 100-yard freestyle with a mark of 57.29 to win by more than two seconds.
Sophomore Jason Erichsen (Banks, Ore.) placed first in the 100-yard breaststroke for Simmons on a time of 1:15.88 to finish ahead of a pair of Sharks in the event sweep. Erichsen also finished second in the 200-yard individual medley and fourth in the 100-yard butterfly to rack up 15 points on the day. Simmons also received individual wins from senior Hannah Plourde (Westfield, Mass.) (100-yard butterfly/1:07.87), sophomore Cassie Vietas (Tampa, Fla.) (100-yard backstroke/1:09.82), senior Jordan Mattheisen (Seattle, Wash.) (200-yard freestyle/2:09.25), Morris (50-yard butterfly/29.50) and sophomore Laura Simpson (Perkiomenville, Pa.) (1000-yard freestyle/11:11.54). The Sharks closed out the day with a win in the 400-yard freestyle, courtesy of Simpson, senior Julie Nguyen (Salem, Mass.), List and Mattheisen.
First year diver Casey Allaire (Mattapoisett, Mass.) led Plymouth State with a pair of diving victories. She piled up 222.20 points to win on the one-meter board, while scoring 195.55 points to earn first place on the three-meter board. First year Cristina Samaniego (Avon, Conn.) finished second on both boards for Simmons. She tallied a career-high 187.80 points on the one meter board and scored 157.10 points in the three-meter event.
Sophomore Melissa Page (Atkinson, N.H.) contributed for the Panthers with eight points after finishing second in the 50-yard backstroke, third in the 100-yard backstroke and fifth in the 100-yard butterfly. Junior Alexandra Ambrosino (Holden, Mass.) placed second in the 50-yard breaststroke and fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke, while Julia Mazza finished second in the 100-yard butterfly and fourth in the 100-yard freestyle for the visitors.
The Sharks return to the water on Saturday, January 14 when they travel to New London, N.H. for a double-dual meet with Colby-Sawyer College and Regis College at 11:00 a.m., while Plymouth State heads to Hartford, Conn. on January 13 to swim against University of Saint Joseph at 3:30 p.m.