The team's second most important victory came over NESCAC rival Middlebury College on Dec. 6. After a shortened break, the women returned to the pool to defeat Colby College on Jan. 4. Following the Williams meet and a training trip to Puerto Rico, the Jeffs returned to complete Interterm with a 172-126 victory over Hamilton College on Saturday.
Coming up against a Middlebury squad that dealt Amherst a tough loss last year, the Jeffs were more than eager for a rematch. From beginning to end, Amherst swam fast to earn a 142-101 win. The 400-yard medley relay team of Liz Chiang '05, Jill Wyrick '05, Piper Pettersen '07 and Rebecca Stein '05 made their NCAA B-cut (which gives individual swimmers a chance to make it to the national tournament) with a 4:00.95 finish, six seconds ahead of the Panther swimmers. Stein also had two individual wins, with times of 24.66 in the 50-yard freestyle and 53.76 in the 100-yard freestyle. Margaret Ramsey '07 won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:57.85.
Wyrick, Jasmina Cheung-Lau '07 and Hilary Stockbridge '05 swept the 200-yard individual medley. Wyrick won in a 2:12.09 and Cheung-Lau finished just after in 2:12.74, just shy of a national B-cut. She did earn a B-cut in the 200-yard butterfly, however, winning in 2:09.92, while Pettersen grabbed second. Natalie Dyer '07 edged out Middlebury's 200-yard backstroker to place first. Stockbridge won the 200-yard breaststroke, followed closely by Wyrick.
The women's next victory came at Colby, 141-90. Diving duo Kristin Boyd '05 and Kate Shaw '05 finished one-two in their diving events. Boyd won the one-meter and Shaw placed second; they traded spots in the three-meter event.
Pettersen swam to a very close second in the 100-yard butterfly, earning a B-cut with her 59.48 finish. Ramsey, Dyer and Wyrick won the 100-yard freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke, respectively.
The team was nervous about the William meet because Amherst was not expected to win. "In the locker room beforehand, our pep talk was about having as close a meet as possible," said co-captain Jaime Fisher '04. The women intended to do their best, and hopefully win next year. From the first race they exceeded their own expectations. In the opening event Chiang, Wyrick, Pettersen and Stein swam a B-qualifying 1:49.64 to win the 200-yard medley relay.
The 1000-yard freestyle was a "marathon battle," in Fisher's words, which ended with Michelle McCreary '05 placing a close second with Alexis Johnston '05 and Sarah Dobbs '04 in fourth and sixth respectively.
The third event was the 200-yard freestyle, in which Ramsey swam a B qualifying, school record-breaking 1:55.61. The 100-yard breaststroke was another important event, as Wyrick and Stockbridge finished first and second. Wyrick swam a 1:07.99, her fastest time of the season.
Cheung-Lau took first and Pettersen took third in a fast 200-yard butterfly, both swimming season bests. Stein and Chiang placed second and third in the 50-yard freestyle.
The next event, one-meter diving, was the turning point of the meet. "It was especially exciting because divers rarely get to make a large contribution to the team," said Shaw. Shaw and Boyd were expected to place third and fourth, and in a close meet, each point matters. "We knew how important every point was and we both just tried to stay calm, harness all that adrenaline, and dive like we knew we could," said Boyd. Boyd dove beautifully, earning 243 points and a first place finish, while Shaw pulled off second with 234.6 points. "I think the event was a big morale booster for the team as well," added Boyd. At that point, the Jeffs realized that a victory was within reach.
Stein also harnessed the energy of the meet in the 100-yard freestyle, swimming a 52.85 to break the pool record of 53.48. Next, Wyrick and Stockbridge swam to another one-two finish in the 200-yard breaststroke. Ramsey dropped nearly 10 seconds in the 500-yard freestyle to earn her second individual win of the meet in addition to garnering national recognition from the website CollegeSwimming.com. The site named her the women's NCAA Div. III swimmer of the week for the week ending Jan. 10.
Another fast, exciting race followed in the 100-yard butterfly, in which the top three finishers all swam B-cut qualifying times. Cheung-Lau was first at 58.96, Pettersen second at 59.22 and Eph Mary Stranghoener third at 59.39.
By the second diving break, the three-meter, the women were feeling confident that they could win. "Coach Nichols had already called home for a change of clothes, knowing he'd be thrown in the pool afterwards," said Fisher.
The penultimate event was the 200-yard individual medley. Wyrick and Cheung-Lau took first and second, clinching deserved victory for their team. In the final, 400-yard freestyle relay, Chiang, Ramsey, Pettersen and Stein set a new pool record, 3:36.98, to put the final nail in the Eph coffin.
The pool was filled with fans, many from Williams. "For most of the meet the fans were so loud," said Katie Massopust '05. "It was so cool to compete in front of so many loud Williams fans and then watch them get real quiet after each Amherst win."
The entire team contributed to the exciting victory, with many women tallying their best times of the season. Cheung-Lau attributed the victory to "the unity of the entire team and the fact that everyone was cheering and encouraging everyone else."
"I think there was a huge amount of shock on our part, and I'm sure on Williams's part-actually I'm not sure who was more surprised," said Fisher. The feeling carried over into the team's next meet against Hamilton. "We walked in with the knowledge that we were the first team to beat Williams in 16 years and that everyone else knows it too," said Fisher.
With a month left, Amherst is focused on sending as many team members to nationals as possible. The Jeffs host two home meets this weekend, facing MIT on Saturday and Hartwick College on Sunday at Pratt Pool.