On Dec. 9, the Jeffs defeated Springfield by a final score of 129-107. Amherst started strong, taking the first event of the meet, the 400-yard Medley Relay, with the team of Megan Mardy '01, Allison Martin '02, Tiffany Johnston '01 and Stacie Botsford '01. Amherst also finished third in the event with the team of Amy Adams '03, Bea Wallace '04, Sarah Dobbs '04 and Talia Dubovi '01. In addition, the Jeffs swept the top three positions in the 200-yard freestyle. Jaime Fisher '04, won the event and was followed by teammates Ashley Simonsen '04, and Mardy.
After dispatching the Springfield squad, it was off to warm, sunny Florida for the Jeffs, right? Wrong.
"It was really cold; there was ice on the pool deck. But the team tried to keep its morale up," said Co-captain Hilary Jones '01 of the tough conditions.
The cold swing south may have adversely affected Amherst as the women returned from the trip to suffer their first loss of the season at the hands of rival Williams.
The day began well as the team of Botsford, Martin, Johnston and Jones won the 200-yard Medley Relay. The remaining races did not play out as well. The only Jeff victories came in the 200-yard butterfly as Morgan Bayer '03 won the event, 2:07.72, and in the 50-yard Freestyle, with Jones in a time of 24.77.
Williams finished 1-2-3 in the 1-meter diving event, and Amherst Co-captain Amanda Muir '01 finished fourth. In the three-meter diving event Muir, Amherst's only participant in this event, finished fourth.
Jones cited fatigue as a possible cause for the less-than-stellar results. "We just got back from our trip, and we weren't really rested," she said.
The Jeffs returned to Amherst's Pratt Pool with vengeance on their minds, defeating Southern Connecticut State University by a score of 120-85. Ali Abate '04 had a big day, winning two events, including the 50-yard freestyle, where she finished a full six seconds ahead of the second place contestant.
Martin was also the key to Amherst's success with two victories of her own against Southern Conn. She won the 200-yard freestyle and the 500-yard freestyle. Simonsen finished second in the event, and Dobbs completed the trifecta for Amherst, finishing third.
Amherst next scored a victory against Middlebury College, with a score of 127-104. Mardy dominated the field in the 1000-yard freestyle, winning in a final time of 10:49.80, and Rory Miller '03 also had a strong race in the 1000-meter.
The Jeffs continued their winning ways against Hamilton College, taking the victory against the Continentals 127-104. Bayer, who has posted an individual win each dual meet this season, continued to shine by smashing her own Pratt Pool 200-yard butterfly record, with a time of 2:07.26. She also won the 200-yard freestyle.
Amherst went on to defeat Wesleyan 121-120. Muir broke a pool record on the three-meter diving event and received a B standard, meaning she may be invited to the National Championship Tournament as an individual contestant.
The Jeffs next meet is on Monday, when they will travel to swim at yearly rival Hartwick College in the final regular season event before the NESCAC Championship Tournament and the Division III NCAA Championships.