After holding a 41-point lead after day one at the Worcester City Championship, the Assumption College women’s swimming and diving team pulled away on day two to capture its second straight city title against Division I Holy Cross, WPI and Clark University.
The Hounds captured 10 individual events and two relays while successfully defending their championship. Assumption finished the event with a total of 1143.5 points, with Holy Cross in 2nd with 964 followed by WPI (738) and Clark University (520).
Over the two-day event, sophomore Michele Galanos (Atkinson, N.H./Central Catholic) captured the women’s one-meter diving competition with a score of 382.50, while freshman Jamie DiMarino (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) placed sixth with a score of 268.45. In the three-meter competition, Galanos placed second with a score of 326.10, en route to being named as the Women’s Diving Athlete of the Meet for the city championship. DiMarino finished seventh at the three-meter height with a total of 247.35. Both of the scores for Galanos were school records, including a one-meter mark that she broke by over 70 points.
In the 800 freestyle relay that opened the meet, the Hounds placed a pair of teams in the top five with second and fourth-place finishes. Finishing second in a time of 8:08.65 was the team of freshman Rachel Lanam (Sebastian, Fla./Sebastian River), freshman Libby Gajewski (Biddeford, Maine/Catherine McAuley), senior Monique Haney (Rialto, Calif./Bloomington) and freshman Tricia Lee (Norwood, Mass./Norwood). The fourth-place team of freshman Maddy Behan (Seekonk, Mass./Seekonk), sophomore Victoria Weber (Augusta, Maine/Cony), senior Maureen Quirk (Wakefield, Mass./Wakefield) and senior Meaghan Shea (Orlando, Fla./Orlando Lutheran Academy) touched in a time of 8:25.44.
In the first individual event, Weber captured the 200 IM in a pool-record time of 2:14.76 as four Hounds placed in the top five. Junior Katherine Medeiros (Mattapoisett, Mass./Bishop Stang) placed third in 2:15.71, followed by Quirk in fourth at 2:21.37 and Behan in fifth at 2:21.50. In the 1650 free, Lanam captured her first Worcester City title as she touched in a pool-record time of 18:32.06. Haney placed third in 18:40.6, along with a fourth-place finish by Shea in 18:44.76.
In the final relay of day one, the Hounds had three teams in the top five in the 400 yard medley relay. Capturing the event in a Worcester City Championship record time of 4:04.02 was the team of sophomore Janelle McDonald (Middleboro, Mass./Middleboro), freshman Rachel Gagnon (Tolland, Conn./Tolland), Medeiros and Gajewski. The Hounds also had teams that placed third and fifth in the event, en route to 265 day-one points and the 41-point lead over Holy Cross.
McDonald and Haney each captured two individual events on Saturday to lead the day two effort, while McDonald was also the leadoff leg of the 200 medley relay team. McDonald won the 100 backstroke in a pool-record time of 1:00.41 and the 200 backstroke in a pool-record time of 2:12.87, while Haney won the 400 IM in 4:49.49 and the 200 fly in a pool-record time of 2:17.04.
In the 200 medley relay team that won in a meet and pool-record time of 1:51.49 as she was joined on the team by Gagnon, Weber and junior Elyse Prayson (Dayton, Ohio/Archbishop Alter). The 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams each placed third, with the 200 team swimming a time of 1:44.00 and the 400 team touching in 3:49.04. The 200 team consisted of Prayson, Weber, Lee and Gajewski, while the 400 team members were Gajewski, Lee, Lanam and Prayson.
Other day two winners included Prayson in the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:11.82, Gagnon in the 200 breaststroke in a pool-record time of 2:32.79, Lanam in the 500 freestyle in 5:20.23 and Weber in the 100 fly in 1:00.90. In the 400 IM, Quirk placed fourth in 4:59.04, followed by freshman McKenzie Johnson (Goffstown, N.H./Goffstown) in fifth with a time of 5:03.17. Lee also added a fifth-place finish in the 200 freestyle, touching in a time of 2:03.67. In addition to the McDonald victory in the 100 backstroke, sophomore Caitlin Schofield (Foxboro, Mass./Bishop Feehan), senior Jill Burke (North Andover, Mass./Central Catholic) and senior Carly Eckles (Sherborn, Mass./Dover-Sherborn) placed third thru fifth as the Hounds nearly swept the top five. Schofield finished in 1:04.73, along with Burke in 1:05.48 and Eckles in 1:05.60.
Lanam finished second in the 200 fly in 2:17.99, while sophomore Rachel Ferris (Stephentown, N.Y./Berlin) tied for second in the 50 free in 25.56 and Gajewski placed fifth in 25.95. Ferris added a runner-up finish in the 100 breaststroke in 1:11.90, along with Gagnon in fourth in that event in a time of 1:12.21.
Weber nearly captured the 100 free as she placed second in 55.67, along with a fourth-place finish by Gajewski in a time of 56.40. Burke and Eckles again picked up top-five finishes in the 200 backstroke, with Burke finishing second in 2:16.29 and Eckles placing fourth in a time of 2:19.11.
In addition to Gagnon’s victory in the 200 breaststroke, Prayson placed second in a time of 2:35.57, along with a fifth-place finish by Johnson in 2:39.13. Freshman Erin Dougherty (Waterford, N.Y.) rounded out the top-five finishes for Assumption, finishing fourth in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:25.83.
Assumption is back in action on Friday, January 24th as the Hounds travel to Division I Siena for a 7 p.m. start in Albany, N.Y.
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Press release courtesy of Assumption College.