PLYMOUTH, N.H. -- Sophomore Aine Scholand (Albuquerque, N.M.) and senior Natalie Giraldi (Bedford, N.H.) each won a pair of events, including a pool-record from Scholand to lead the Simmons College women's swimming & diving team over host Plymouth State University, 215-63, this afternoon in Plymouth, N.H. The Sharks improve to 6-2 on the season, while the Panthers fall to 1-5.
Simmons won 12 of 16 events, including the top three spots in four of them.
Scholand won the first individual event of the afternoon for the Sharks with a time of 10:53.72 to shatter the pool record in the 1000-yard freestyle by more than seven and a half seconds and win the race by more than 1:21. She later went on to capture a victory in the 100-yard backstroke with a mark of 1:05.20 to win by more than two seconds and lead a second one-two-three Simmons finish. Giraldi helped Simmons win the first race of the day, swimming the breaststroke leg of the 200-yard medley to contribute to a winning time of 2:00.54. First year Maria Soraghan (East Hampstead, N.H.) led off the relay with the backstroke leg, while senior Michaela Morris (Duxbury, Mass.) swam the butterfly and sophomore Laura List (Bedford, Mass.) anchored on the freestyle segment. Giraldi later touched the wall first by almost two seconds to win the 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 33.24 and added a win in the 50-yard butterfly with a mark of 29.64.
Soraghan cruised to a victory in the 200-yard freestyle by more than a dozen seconds with a time of 2:01.43 for the Sharks, while Morris won by more than five ticks in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:04.29. List earned a victory in the 100-yard freestyle with a mark of 58.28. Junior Kerry Fleming (Northampton, Mass.) made the most of her first individual race after studying abroad during the season's first semester by winning the 50-yard backstroke with a time of 30.46. Sophomore Haley McCurdy (Framingham, Mass.) fueled a 1-2-3 finish in the 100-yard breaststroke for Simmons with a 1:19.45 winning effort, while junior Laura Simpson (Perkiomenville, Pa.) took home a 33-plus second win in the 500-yard freestyle with a mark of 5:30.83.
Simpson, first year Annie Lam (Natick, Mass.), McCurdy and senior Ronnie Bennett (Pottstown, Pa.) combined to cap the afternoon with a win in the 400-yard freestyle for the Sharks with Bennett hitting the wall at 4:05.86 in the anchor leg.
Plymouth State was led by sophomore diver Casey Allaire (Mattapoisett, Mass.), who won both diving events. Allaire turned in a score of 220.15 to win on the one-meter board and later won the three-meter event with a tally of 221.00. First year Sara Manjikian (Belmont, Mass.) finished second in each event for Simmons with scores of 194.30 and 182.75, respectively. The Panthers also received a win in the 50-yard freestyle from senior Emily Wadlinger (Lebanon, N.H.) with a time of 27.00 and first year Cammie Turell (Bowie, Md.) captured the final individual event of the meet with a win in the 100-yard individual medley following a time of 1:08.31.
The Sharks return to the pool on Saturday, January 13 when they host Regis (Mass.) and Colby-Sawyer College for an 11:00 a.m. meet at the Holmes Sports Center Natatorium, while Plymouth State hosts University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) on January 12 at 3:30 p.m.