Courtesy: MIT Athletics
Score: MIT 201, Tufts University 99
– Records: MIT (5-3); Tufts (4-3)
– Location: Cambridge, Mass. (Zesiger Sports & Fitness Center Pool)
– The Lead: MIT sophomore diver Deborah Wen (Honolulu, Hawaii) broke the six-dive pool record on the 1-meter board and the Engineers won 13 of 16 events en route to a dominant 201-99 dual meet win over Tufts on Friday night in Cambridge.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
– The Engineers began the meet with a victory in the 200-medley relay as first-year Laura Rosado (New Haven, Conn.), sophomore Sara Nicholas (Wilmette, Ill.), sophomore Olivia McGrath (Chevy Chase, Md.) and first-year Lara Ketonen (Helsinki, Finland) combined for a time of 1:47.58 in the event.
– MIT swept the top three positions in three swimming events including the 100-breast and the 50-free. Ketonen paced the Engineers in the 50-free as she clocked a time of 24.51 and was followed by junior Lilia Staszel (Brighton, Mich.) and first-year Lindsey Bjornstad (Mequon, Wis.) who tied for second in 24.85. Ketonen also won the 100-free in 53.59 and was followed by classmate Shannon Hagmaier (Longwood, Fla.) in 53.61 and Staszel in 54.57.
– Nicholas led MIT in the 100-breast as she clocked a winning time of 1:07.78 and was followed by classmates Sydney Vleck (Scarsdale, N.Y.) and Julia Gonik (Irvine, Calif.) in 1:09.52 and 1:10.40, respectively.
– Sophomore Hannah Mahaffey (Lawrenceville, Ga.) won both the 200-fly in 2:07.02 and the 400-IM in 4:35.08 and finished second in the 200-back in 2:10.52, while first-year Jennifer Yu (Pearland, Texas) put together one individual win of her own in the 100-back in 58.69 and also placed second in the 100-fly in 59.51.
– Nicholas and Hagmaier round out the list of individual winners in the swimming events tonight as Nicholas won the 200-breast in 2:28.41 and Hagmaier won the 200-free in 1:56.74. Bjornstad, Ketonen, Hagmaier and Staszel teamed up to win the 200-free relay in a time of 1:37.18 to close the meet.
– In the diving well, Wen’s pool record score of 320.17 gave her first place on the 1-meter board before she placed second on the 3-meter board with 323.25 points. Junior Blake Zhou (Palo Alto, Calif.) was victorious on the 3-meter board with 332.10 points.
UP NEXT:
– MIT rounds out its dual meet schedule next Saturday, February 2 against Amherst College at 1:00 pm. Prior to the meet, the Engineers will honor their five graduating seniors.