Alec Goldfield '09 followed with a solid win in the 1,000-yard freestyle. The Jeffs then served up a respective first- and second-place by Christian Witzke '09 and Andrew Maslan '08, in the 200-yard freestyle. Witzke also won the 500-yard freestyle.
In the backstroke events, Estacio took second in the 100-yard race, followed by Mike Waskom '09 and Josiah Bethards '09, and finished with a solid win in the 200-yard race with junior Ed Hagerty close behind.
Junior John Ancona dominated in both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke events, taking home second and first place, respectively. Ethan Treat '07, who finished with top times at Nationals last year, was toppled by Holmes in the 200-yard butterfly and took a close second, followed by senior tri-captain Adam Lewkowitz in third. Treat also took first in the 200-yard IM while Holmes dominated the 100-yard butterfly.
"The [first-years], especially [Witzke] and [Holmes], swam very well at both meets," said Lewkowitz. "But that was expected. We were surprised at how Goldfield, Scala, Resler and Waskom stepped up big for their first few collegiate meets, considering how broken down we were from training."
On the diving board, sophomores Connor Boyd and Adam Bookman competed only against each other; Boyd won both the one- and three-meter events.
"We were very satisfied with the way we started the season against Colby," said senior tri-captain Tommy Gonnella. "The [first-years] were great and the team as a whole showed tremendous versatility."
Amherst returned to the pool on Nov. 21 at Wesleyan University. Estacio started the meet off strong with a solid win in the 50-yard backstroke. Derek Prill '08 and Ancona followed with a two-three finish in the 50-yard breaststroke, and also notched first-and second-place finishes in 100-yard race. Treat registered two more top times, taking first in the 400-yard IM and second in the 100-yard butterfly.
The underclassmen Jeffs carried their weight throughout the meet, drowning the Cardinals. Holmes took second in a fast 50-yard butterfly race, while Witzke placed first and second in the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle, respectively. Resler and Kaplan touched in with the same second-place time in the 50-yard freestyle, with Scala less than 0.2 seconds behind. Waskom and Bethards followed Estacio's top time in second and third place, respectively, in the 100-yard backstroke. Distance swimmer Maslan once again came up strong for Amherst, taking second in the 1,000-yard freestyle.
Boyd and Bookman faced their first competition against Wesleyan. They took first and third, respectively, in both the one- and three-meter diving events. "Boyd and Bookman are both diving extraordinarily," said Estacio. "They are going to be crucial to our success. There are many strong teams this year that would be impossible to beat without our divers."
The Jeffs return to Pratt Pool Saturday to defend their 2-0 record against Middlebury College in their season's first home meet. "I think this meet will set the tone for the rest of our season," said Estacio. "A win will put us in a position to challenge Williams College for the NESCAC championship."
Gonnella added, "They have some great breastrokers and a very good swimmer for the IM. We are going to need solid swims across the board to win this weekend, but I like the way the team is looking."
NESCAC Notes
On Nov. 19, Middlebury beat Connecticut College by a mere 14 points, but lost to Tufts University on the same day. Bowdoin College also started off with a 1-1 record, beating Babson College while losing to MIT.
Three-time NESCAC Champions Williams began their season with a meet against Div. I opponent Boston College. In another strong start, the Ephs beat the Eagles 166-125 without several of their top swimmers, including multiple-time NESCAC and National Champion Will Cunningham.