BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore Sara Manjikian (Belmont, Mass.) won both diving events and set a school record on the three-meter board to lead the Simmons University women's swimming & diving team to a 248-46 victory over visiting University of New England this afternoon at the Holmes Sports Center Natatorium in Boston, Mass. The Sharks improve to 7-2 on the season, while the Nor'easters fall to fall to 2-3.
Simmons dominated the meet, winning all 16 events, while claiming the top three spots in eight events and the top two finishes in both relay races.
Manjikian scored 240.30 points on six dives on the three-meter board to eclipse the former mark of 237.15 set by Amanda Dirksmeier in 2011. The sophomore scored at least 6½ on 14 of 18 of the judges' scores that she received during the event and tallied two eights and a seven on her fourth dive of the set. Her most impressive dive of the event might have been her second effort, where she tallied a trio of sevens on a dive with a 2.2 degree of difficulty. The second-year diver also won the one-meter board earlier in the meet with a score of 223.15. The Sharks swept both diving events with junior Cristina Samaniego (Avon, Conn.) placing second on the one-meter board and third in the three-meter event, while first year Natalie Krieg (Cambridge, Mass.) took second on the three-meter board and third on the one-meter board.
Senior Jason Erichsen (Banks, Ore.) was one of five Simmons competitors to win a pair of events for the meet and was the day's high-scorer with 22 points, including wins in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:11.94) and the 200-yard individual medley (2:18.16) to go with a second-place showing in the 200-yard backstroke.
Senior Kerry Fleming (Northampton, Mass.) won the 500-yard freestyle by nearly 19 seconds with a time of 5:24.50 to lead a sweep of the event by the Sharks. She showed her range by winning the 50-yard freestyle as well with a mark of 25.94. Junior Aine Scholand (Albuquerque, N.M.) cruised to a 50-plus second victory in the 1000-yard freestyle for Simmons after turning in a time of 11:01.23 and later added a triumph in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:15.75. First year Sarah Singleton (Mission Hills, Calif.) won both individual events she entered, touching the wall at 1:03.49 in the 100-yard backstroke, before adding a victory in the 100-yard freestyle with a clip of 56.87. She also helped Simmons win both relay events, swimming the butterfly in the opening 400-yard medley relay ahead of Fleming's backstroke and the breaststroke segment by sophomore Elizabeth Bartlett (Richmond, Mass.), while junior Laura List (Bedford, Mass.) closed out the race on the freestyle anchor for a combined time of 4:16.64. Singleton opened the 200-yard freestyle relay, followed by Scholand, sophomore Olivia Walz (Natick, Mass.) and List to close out the meet with a winning mark of 1:45.08.
Senior Laura Simpson (Perkiomenville, Pa.) racked up 17 points with a four-plus second win in the 200-yard freestyle (2:03.73) in addition to a pair of second-place efforts in the 200-yard breaststroke and individual medley for the Sharks. Sophomore Anna Leedham (Lowell, Mass.) touched the wall first in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:04.31 to win by more than six seconds and added second in the 500-yard freestyle, while Walz clocked in at 2:39.10 to claim the 200-yard breaststroke by more than six seconds and also placed second in the 200-yard freestyle for the home squad. Sophomore Annie Lam (Natick, Mass.) was the Sharks' top finisher in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 29.41 and placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Sophomore MiKayla Sargent (Haverhill, Mass.) led UNE with seven points on a third-place effort in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:47.75) and fourth-place finishes in the 200-yard freestyle (2:15.66) and the 100-yard butterfly (1:11.63). First year Haley Griffin (Ava, N.Y.) turned in a pair of third-place finishes in both backstroke events with a time of 1:07.15 in the 100 and 2:23.99 in the 200. First year Taylor Gibson (Wakefield, Mass.) and junior Melissa Jakubowski (Danbury, Conn.) each finished third in the 1000-yard freestyle (12:20.93) and the 50-yard freestyle (28.06), respectively.
The Sharks return to the pool on Friday, November 30 for the first day of the MIT Invitational in Cambridge, Mass., hosted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while the Nor'easters head to Brunswick, Maine on the same day to compete in the two-day Maine Meet, hosted by Bowdoin College.