Photo by Faryal Mirza ’20
Monika Sharma ’19 and Emily Craig ’17 swim the 100 free against three Smith swimmers on Saturday.
BY ANNA BALLOU '20
On Saturday, Feb. 4, Mount Holyoke College Swimming & Diving honored their four graduating seniors at their home meet against local rival Smith College. After a series of close races, Mount Holyoke eventually fell 167-119 to the Pioneers. The seniors, including Anne Kuenning ’17, Katie Tyler ’17, Emily Craig ’17 and Tristan Strange ’17, each contributed to events throughout the meet.
The meet began with a 200-yard medley relay featuring three of the four seniors. Kuenning, Tyler and Craig were joined by Claire Beckett ’18 to finish with a time of 1:55.44 for a victory. Several swimmers saw top-three finishes, including Natalie Burkett ’20, Craig, Kuenning, and Sarah Ratzlaff ’20. Tyler secured Mount Holyoke’s first individual win of the meet in the 50-yard freestyle, finishing with the top time of 25.71.
Mount Holyoke also saw success on the 1-meter diving board as Samantha Nemivant ’20 bested the competition with a score of 273.60. Later in the meet, Nemivant returned to compete in the — meter diving event, where she placed third with a final score of 268.5.
The day continued with successful swims from Tyler, Craig, Burkett and Ratzlaff. In the final event of the meet, Mount Holyoke finished strong with a 400-yard free relay. The team of Flaherty, Berry, Burkett and Ratzlaff swam for a time of 4:10.28 to claim the victory.
The team is now faced with a short break until Feb. 16 for the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference Championships at Worcester Polytechnic Institute.