Amherst competed valiantly against Williams in their Jan. 7 home meet, but came up short. The meet began with the 200-yard medley relay, in which the Ephs outswam the Jeffs by 0.08 seconds: First-year Meaghan Stern nearly caught the Eph anchor in a race demonstrating the high level of excitement expected in a matchup between the rival teams.
Julie Kim '08 had the first Amherst win of the day in the 1,000-yard freestyle, accelerating as her Eph competitor faded. "Kim has been having some swims that impress both the team and spectators," said senior co-captain Mia Anderson. Stern won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:55.16 to break the pool record since 1993. Brittany Sasser '08 broke her own pool record in the 100-yard backstroke, bettering it from 58.12 to 57.53. Sophomore Lisa Pritchard also swam a speedy backstroke, placing second.
The tide of the meet began to turn with several close races ending in Williams' favor and Amherst shortages in some key events. Junior Jasmina Cheung-Lau took second in the 200-yard butterfly and Margaret Tato '09 took third, helping to keep Amherst close.
Mary Marvel '09 won a fast 50-yard freestyle. "Mary Marvel has really become a star on the team" said Pritchard. "She stepped up starting at Middlebury [College] and she has continued to swim unbelievably well and drop lots of time. She is now an integral part of all our sprint relays and watching her improve has been very exciting."
Stern had an excellent 52.34 second 100-yard freestyle but was edged by Eph phenom Lindsay Payne. Sasser then smashed her own 200-yard backstroke pool record by two seconds as she easily won the event.
Marvel took second in the 100-yard butterfly and Sasser did likewise in the 200-yard individual medley. The young 400-yard freestyle relay team of Marvel, Pritchard, Alex Lee '09 and Stern handily won and broke the pool record in the process. In spite of many excellent Jeff performances, the Ephs (6-1) won 171-127. "I think we have a shot at making the meet even closer next year when the freshmen have some experience under their belts," said Kim.
Amherst traveled to Hamilton College on Jan. 21 and notched a 122-93 victory. The 400-yard medley relay team of Pritchard, Sasser, Piper Pettersen '07 and Marvel easily won. Kim and Ellie Hewitt '09 finished one-two in the 1,650-yard freestyle, respectively, with impressive efforts from both. Next junior co-captain Margaret Ramsey and first-year Erin Morrison did the same in the 200-yard freestyle.
Stern, Marvel and Pettersen recently returned from a semester abroad, and swept the 50-yard freestyle while Sasser, Kara MacLaverty '09 and Kim swept the 400-yard individual medley. Marvel won the 100-yard freestyle and Stern swam an impressive 5:09.15 in the 500-yard freestyle, which Kim dubbed the most exciting race of the day.
The Jeffs next visited Union College on Jan. 25, dominating 148.5 to 93.5. Pritchard, Pettersen, Ramsey and Marvel won the 200-yard medley relay. Stern and Cheung-Lau took first and second in the 1000-yard freestyle and Kim won the 200-yard freestyle. Marvel speedily won the 50-yard freestyle and Sasser took the 200-yard individual medley while Lee tied for second. Pettersen won the 100-yard butterfly and Sasser the 100-yard freestyle.
Pritchard and Marvel finished neck-and-neck in the 100-yard backstroke, with Pritchard out-touching her teammate by 0.09 seconds to win. Ramsey and MacLaverty took one-two in the 500-yard freestyle, respectively. "It was a gutsy swim in that she took it out hard and hung on until the end," said Kim. Sasser, Stern, Kim and Ramsey won the 400-yard freestyle medley to finish the meet on a high note.
To cap off a long month, Amherst competed against MIT and Conn. College in a dual meet in Boston on Saturday. Amherst beat MIT 173-116 and Conn. 186-89, dropping only two events of 16. The Jeffs were so dominant that they swept several racees as Amherst "B" swimmers topped the best competitors from Conn. and MIT.
Marvel and Stern won the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events, respectively. Sasser took the 200-yard backstroke and Pettersen the 200-yard breaststroke. Kim continued a month of excellent times in distance events and won the 500-yard freestyle in 5:12.80, with MacLaverty finishing second. "MacLaverty is taking off in the [500-yard freestyle] daily, dropping seconds in under a week," said Anderson. Marvel and Ramsey took first and second in the 100-yard butterfly. Sasser, MacLaverty and Lee had the three top 200-yard individual medley times and the 200-yard freestyle relay of Marvel, Pritchard, Ramsey and Stern had the fastest finish.
"People are tired but still swimming fast, which is a good sign before we start tapering for our conference meet," said Anderson.
"Everyone has been working hard in and out of the pool. After spending almost a month thinking mainly about swimming, we are psyched to see our hard work pay off at the big competition where we will finally be shaved, rested, and in peak condition," said Kim.
Amherst hosts Springfield College on Saturday to complete the regular season.
NESCAC Notes
Williams' Lindsay Payne won three events against Amherst on Jan. 7, breaking the 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard freestyle and 200-yard individual medley pool records. Middlebury is now 7-2 after losing to Williams on Saturday, 113-185.