NEW LONDON, N.H. - Sophomore Kerry Fleming (Northampton, Mass.) earned three first place finishes to lead the Simmons College women's swimming & diving team to victories over host Colby-Sawyer College and Regis College this afternoon in a double-dual meet in New London, N.H. The Sharks defeated Colby-Sawyer, 195-67, and Regis, 184-88. Simmons improves to a perfect 9-0, while Colby-Sawyer falls 2-4 to and Regis dips to 7-2.
The Sharks won all 16 events vs. Colby-Sawyer and took all but two vs. Regis.
Fleming hit the wall first in the 200 and 100-yard freestyle events and capped her individual success with a first-place effort in the 100-yard individual medley for Simmons. She also swam the anchor leg of the Sharks' winning 200-yard freestyle race. Fleming won the 200-free by more than five seconds with a time of 2:00.22 and later earned victory in the 100-free at 55.75 to win by nearly three seconds. She clipped teammate Michaela Morris (Duxbury, Mass.) in the 100-IM with a time of 1:05.19 as part of a 1-2-3 sweep for Simmons. Fleming was joined by first year Laura List (Bedford, Mass.), senior Miriam Swisher (Albuquerque, N.M.) and junior Natalie Giraldi (Bedford, N.H.) to post a time of 1:44.52 in the 200-relay.
Morris added a pair of first-place showings to her second-place finish to end the day with 22 points vs. both Regis and Colby-Sawyer. She won the 100-yard butterfly by almost five seconds with a mark of 1:02.86 and later won the 50-yard butterfly in 27.72. Swisher also won a pair of events as one of five competitors to win multiple events for the Sharks. Her time of 29.50 was good for first place in the 50-yard backstroke and her effort in the 50-yard freestyle produced a winning time of 25.55. Giraldi earned victories in both breaststroke events, winning the 50-yard race by just under two seconds at 32.35, before taking the 100 by over four and a half seconds with a mark of 1:09.69. Sophomore Laura Simpson (Perkiomenville, Pa.) was also a double-winner for Simmons, winning both distance events. She cruised victory by just under 13 seconds in the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 11:04.41 and won the 500-yard freestyle by more than 14 seconds, clocking in at 5:26.13.
The Sharks also received a win in the three-meter diving event with first year Cristina Samaniego (Avon, Conn.) scoring 157.35 points. She also placed second in the earlier one-meter event with 159.37 points to Regis first year Elisabeth McQuaid (Marlborough, Mass.), who totaled 190.12 points. List cruised to victory over Colby-Sawyer in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:04.58, but was out-touched by Regis junior Jessica Higgins (Peabody, Mass.) by just over a half second in the race with a mark of 1:04.00. List swam the anchor freestyle leg of the winning 200-yard medley relay for Simmons with Swisher swimming the opening backstroke leg, followed by Giraldi in the breaststroke and Morris in the butterfly for a combined time of 1:54.98 to win by more than seven seconds.
Higgins led Regis against the Sharks with 12 points, adding a third-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle. Senior Meghan Mamlock led Colby-Sawyer with a pair of second-place showings vs. Simmons in the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle.
The Sharks return to the water on Saturday, January 21 when they host a double-dual meet vs. Western New England University and Saint Joseph's College (Maine) at 11:00 a.m., while Regis hosts Elms College on the same day at 11:00 a.m. and Colby-Sawyer heads to Bangor, Maine to take on Husson University at 12:30 p.m.