The women's victory over Hartwick gave them an impressive 8-1 record with just one dual meet left to go before the start of the NESCAC Championships and the Division III National Championships. The meet started off with a bang for the Jeffs, as the 'A' 200-yard medley relay team of Elizabeth Chiang '05, Jill Wyrick '05, Alison Brown '02 and Rebecca Stein '05 captured first by five seconds with a time of 1:53.48, only to be followed by Amherst's own 'B' and 'C' relay teams for an impressive one-two-three finish.
"Last week was the first time that we've lost the medley relay this season," said Brown, referring to last week's disappointing loss to Hamilton College. "We were pretty psyched to come back this week with a win and we were that much more excited when we began the meet with a sweep."
Morgan Bayer '03 and Rory Miller '03 followed their teammates' lead, as they placed first and second in the second event, the grueling 1650-yard freestyle. The Jeffs continued to dominate in the third event, the 200-yard freestyle, once again capturing first and second with the impressive in-season times of 1:59.26 of Courtney Davies '05 and 2:01.33 of Katie Massopust '05. They narrowly missed their second sweep, as Jaime Fisher '04 nearly pulled out third place, missing by just six-tenths of a second.
The fourth event of the meet, the 100-yard backstroke, registered the meet's first truly close race, as Hartwick's Julie Landman squeaked by Michelle McCreary '05 by just one-tenth of a second.
But Amherst came back with a vengeance in the next event, with Wyrick, Hillary Stockbridge '05 and Sarah Malmfeldt '02 sweeping the 100-yard breaststroke.
The Jeffs continued to wreak havoc on Hartwick, winning the rest of the 16 events, including the meet's only other close race, the 100-yard freestyle in which Wyrick touched out the competition by just three one-hundredths of a second.
The Jeffs ended the meet with an exciting triumph in the final event, the 200-yard Freestyle Relay. Amherst took first and second with the 'B' relay team of Chiang, Ashley Simonsen '04, Malmfeldt and Stein edging out the favorites, the 'A' relay of Massopust, McCreary, Bea Wallace '04 and Wyrick, by less than two one-hundredths of a second.
The victory was a poignant one, as it was the departing seniors' last meet at their home pool. The walls of the pool were decorated by the team's underclassmen, with signs dedicated to each of the seniors, discussing the lasting impression they have left and, for the next few weeks, will continue to leave on their teammates.
"The meet itself was both sweet and sad, as it was the last time [the senior class] will get to swim a meet here at home," said departing senior Allison Martin. "But, of course, it was definitely that much better that we won!"
The men's swimming and diving team captured another victory as well against Hartwick in their last home meet of the season, securing an 8-1 record with one dual meet to go.
"I came to Amherst with the class of 2002, so it was a particularly poignant 'last home meet' for me, seeing those seniors swim their last races in Pratt Pool," said coach Nick Nichols. "The men certainly pulled out some impressive times Saturday."
The men swept first and second in the 200-yard medley relay, with the team of Russell Lang '03, Mike Pohorylo '04, Chris Morton '02 and Chuck Clinton '05 taking first. Steve Shapiro '05 then took victory in the 66-lap 1,650-yard freestyle, followed by the Jeffs' first loss of the meet in the 200-yard freestyle, in which Clinton took second, followed by fellow freshman Colin Porter in third.
"We were a little nervous going into the swim because we knew they had a fast guy," said Clinton, referring to Hartwick senior Chris Maiello, who finished in an impressive 1:45.00.
Morton, Lang and Elan Ghazal '05 more than made up for the loss, however, going 1-2-3 in the 100-yard backstroke. Pohorylo took his usual victory in the 100-yard breaststroke, followed by a 1-2 finish in the 200-yard butterfly by Rob Winograd '02 and Jeff Sunderland '03, with Winograd finishing in an impressive 1:55.85. In the 50-yard Freestyle, sprinter Pat Kennedy '03 took first in 22.08, followed by a sweep in the three-meter diving by Ben Hopkins '03, Jordan Bowling '05 and Chris Hunter '05.
Hartwick claimed its second victory in the 100- yard freestyle that followed, with Clinton finishing in second, followed by an Amherst victory in the 200-yard backstroke by Lang. Pohorylo and Kennedy took first and second in the 200-yard breaststroke. In the next race, Winograd fell just six-tenths of a second short of the pool record in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:41.00. Butterfliers Morton, Sunderland and Nick Federico '05 missed first in the 100, but secured a 2-3-4 finish in the event, followed by another diving sweep on the one-meter board by Hopkins, Bowling and Hunter. Winograd took first in the final individual event, the 200-yard individual medley, but the Hartwick men out-touched the Jeffs by just one-tenth in the 200-yard freestyle relay, despite an impressive anchoring job by Kennedy.
The Jeff men's and women's teams will swim their final dual meets of the season against Colby College on Feb. 9, before preparing for the championship season that will commence Mar. 1.