Women
Junior Kendra Stern stepped up for the women’s swimming team with stellar performances in the 50-free and the 500-free. She tied her own pool record for the 50-free with a time of 23.67, and her time of 4:54.78 on the 500-free was good for a new pool record. Along with her individual performances, Stern swam the 400-medley relay and the 800-free relay, helping Amherst start and finish strong. “I have never swum a faster in-season time in the 500- and my 50- time was very solid for me, so coming off of both races I feel really great, and I am very excited to see what happens next,” said Stern of her performance. Seniors Ellen Fitzgerald and Kendall Dacey and first-year Maddy Sprung-Keyser joined Stern in the 400-medley relay to give Amherst a win with a time of 4:03.92. Senior Anna Haring, first-year Nicole Heise, sophomore Becca Thompson and Stern teamed together to take the 800-free relay in 7:54.39.
Stern’s performance wasn’t the only outstanding one of the meet, though. Sophomore Rebecca Kelley won three individual events for the Jeffs: the 400-individual medley (4:38.80), the 200-breast (2:31.80) and the 100-individual medley (1:02.87). Thompson also had two wins to her credit, taking the 200-free (1:58.88) and the 200-backstroke (2:11.58). Dacey also contributed an individual win in the 200-fly with a time of 2:13.86. Heise and Fitzgerald rounded out the Amherst individual winners, coming out on top in the 100-backstroke (1:00.70) and 100-breaststroke (1:09.69), respectively.
On the boards, junior Meggie Meisenger continued to impress with a sweep of the diving events. She took the three-meter event with a score of 270.22 and the one-meter event with a 258.82.
Stern is optimistic about the swimming and diving team’s future. “I’m especially excited to see what our freshmen are going to be able to do once we get to NESCACs because I think that they are going to be making some big statements on both individual events and relays,” she said. Dacey echoed her sentiment, saying, “With the times that the team was posting this past weekend, I think we are in a really great position to not only do very well as a team but also qualify a large contingent of girls for Nationals this year.”
The women will next participate in the NESCAC Championships on Feb. 19 at Middlebury College.
Men
The men also did well in their meet, winning all 14 of their events to beat Springfield. Swimming in their last dual meet, seniors Tad Homchick and Hunter Mims provided outstanding performances for the Amherst team. Homchick won the 50- (21.72) and 100-free (47.43) and the 100-individual medley (54.24). He was also part of the winning 400-medley relay team. Mims took the 100-fly with a time of 55.19.
In other individual performances, Alex Fraser ’11 won the 500-free with a 4:49.26 while sophomore Ryan Lichtenfels swam a 1:56.28 to win the 200-backstroke. Junior Ryan Colby took a come-from-behind win in the 200-backstroke. Sophomores Bart Federak and Mike O’Connor won the 100- and 200-breast events, respectively, while junior Reid Fitzgerald led an Amherst sweep in the 100-backstroke. Rounding out the individual victories was sophomore Ben McBratney, who swam a 1:45.95 in the 200-free.
The men will have their conference championships on Feb. 26 at Williams College.