Mount Holyoke swimming and diving finishes in eighth in NEWMAC championship

By Genevieve Zahner ’26

Staff Writer

Mount Holyoke Swimming and Diving competed in the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference Championship this weekend, coming in eighth place out of 10 teams and beating Smith College and Clark University. The meet started on Thursday, Feb. 16, at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and finished on Sunday, Feb. 19.

Day one of the NEWMAC Championship saw Mount Holyoke finishing in eighth for the day with 34 points. The competition opened with the 4x200 freestyle relay. Mount Holyoke’s A relay of Hannah Heierhoff ’25, Maggie Freisthler ’26, Ruth Bailey ’26 and Evelyn Bushway ’24 placed ninth with a time of 8:13.10.

Day two ended with the Lyons in seventh place with 133 points, putting them ahead of Babson College by 12 points and behind Wellesley College by 76.5 points. Mount Holyoke finished eighth in the 200-yard freestyle relay, with the team of Megan Schneider ’25, Heierhoff ’25, Carolina Loayza ’26 and Adji Diouf ’24 coming in at 1:40.39. Schneider came in 29th in the 50-yard freestyle event in 25.31 seconds, ahead of teammates Diouf, who completed the event in 25.44 seconds, and Loayza, who finished in 25.64 seconds.

Maddy Sewell ’24, the only diver on the team, received a second-place ranking in three-meter diving, scoring 464.5 points in the finals. Sewell’s finish earned 21 points for Mount Holyoke and earned her Second Team All Conference honors.

During the third day, Mount Holyoke had 172 team points. Diouf, Bushway, Loayza and Schneider all competed in the 4x50 medley relay, taking eighth place with a time of 1:50.20 and beating the previous team record of 1:50.25 set in 2015.

“That was something I don’t think the swimmers were expecting to happen, including myself,” Bushway said. “We were not thinking about the record board and times going into that race.”

Additionally, Loayza placed 11th in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 59.15 seconds after shaving 0.61 seconds off the preliminary time. Bushway placed 14th in the 400-yard individual medley in 4:43.92, and Heierhoff placed 15th in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:01.31. In the 100-yard backstroke, Heierhoff placed 30th and Diouf placed 28th, while in the 100-yard breaststroke, Schneider placed 27th.

The fourth and final day of competition ended with Mount Holyoke taking eighth place with 275 points. Highlights of the final day for the Lyons included Heierhoff earning 14th place in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:17.02, Loayza taking 15th place in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:17.75, Seran Goudsouzian ’24 finishing 24th in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:39.91, Schneider finishing 25th in the 100-yard freestyle in 55.18 seconds and Diouf finishing 30th in the same event in 56.11 seconds. Bushway finished in 12th place in the 1650-yard freestyle, completing the event in 18:50.42, and also competed in the 400-yard freestyle relay alongside Schneider, Loayza and Diouf, which they placed eighth in.

“I think as a team, we can be proud of what we have accomplished not only at this meet, but over the course of this season,” Heierhoff said. “Almost everyone swam personal bests or at the very least, season bests.” At NEWMACs, the team dropped 276 seconds in its events.

The NEWMAC Championship concluded the regular swimming and diving season, with an overall dual meet record of 5-4. Sewell alone will go on to compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Diving Regional Championship at New York University on Friday, Feb. 24, and Saturday, Feb. 25.

Winter Sports Will Not Compete in 2020-2021 Season

Pictured above: the Mount Holyoke Basketball team ‘19-’20. Photo courtesy of Mount Holyoke College Athletics Department.

By Casey Roepke ’21

News Editor

The New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference Presidents Council recently released their decision regarding winter sport competition for the 2020-2021 season. The decision to suspend championships and all conference play was made in a unanimous vote by the presidents of all 11 NEWMAC colleges, including Mount Holyoke and fellow Seven Sisters schools Smith and Wellesley.

According to the NEWMAC Presidents Council’s statement on winter sports, this decision was a direct result of COVID-19-related scheduling and travel restrictions. 

“Due to the shift in academic calendars, specifically the later start than normal of the second term and the majority of institutions imposing restrictions of both visitors on campus and travel off campus in an effort to reduce the potential spread and exposure of COVID-19, the Presidents have unanimously decided to suspend conference play and championships for winter sports,” the statement read.

Mount Holyoke student-athletes were alerted of the decision by an email from Director of Athletics Lori Hendricks ’92. According to Hendricks, the decision to lose another competitive season was “not unexpected, but still a disappointment.”

This decision directly impacts Mount Holyoke’s basketball and swimming and diving teams. Mount Holyoke Swimming and Diving Head Coach Dave Allen said that the decision matched his expectations.

“The swimming and diving coaches forwarded a proposal to move the [championship] meet to the end of March or April in the hopes of rescheduling the meet,” Allen said. “Unfortunately, there are so many factors and unknowns with COVID[-19], as well as the logistics to scheduling our meet, [that] it would be a real challenge to reschedule the meet.”

“I definitely had been anticipating that for a while,” Swimming and Diving co-Captain Naomi Brown ’21 said. “Especially with cases rising around the country it just doesn’t seem to be realistic to have sports competitions right now.”

She added that Allen had been preparing the team for the possibility of the suspension of the winter season. “The team was definitely bummed about the news, but Dave has been preparing us for all of the possibilities for a while,” Brown said. “So it wasn’t necessarily a shock.”

“I personally expected this,” Riley Hicks ’21, another one of the swimming and diving team’s co-captains, said. “Many of my teammates even assumed it was canceled before it was actually announced. Obviously, we are all very upset about this, but I had the mindset it would be canceled for the last few months so it is not shocking news.”

Winter sports like swimming and diving rely on the extended fall and winter seasons to train in anticipation of NEWMAC championships, so Brown had come to terms with a disrupted senior season. “We already knew the season would be kind of wacky with not being able to be on campus,” she said. “I definitely miss being around my teammates, but I’m thankful for the time we spend together remotely on Zoom, and we’ve been using this time to grow as a team.”

“We all wish we could be on campus in person, but are trying to make the best of this situation,” Hicks said. “This fall has been very difficult with a lot of new adjustments, but my team and I are hoping to be back in the spring and…able to practice and maybe have some virtual meets.”

“The team is disappointed and at the same time understands the decision,” Allen said. “At this point, we are hoping to be together on the pool deck in the spring. Practicing in person as a team will be a moral[e] boost compared to our current virtual practices.”

While specific teams within the College have independent freedom to hold practices and outside competitions in accordance with NCAA regulations for Division III teams and Mount Holyoke’s own health and safety measures, this decision coincides with the College’s remote fall term, which likely means winter sports will not have any in-person components.

“The cancellation of athletics in the spring all together might make me not want to return at all if that is an option,” Hicks said. “I have talked to many other teammates and other athletes and many have also said that athletics is a major factor in them returning this spring.”

The College will release further information about the spring 2021 term for student-athletes. The NEWMAC Presidents Council has not yet released their decision regarding spring competition.

Historic NEWMAC win for XC

Photo courtesy of MHC Athletic Department

BY SHLOKA GIDWANI ’22

The cross country New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) took place on Nov. 3 at Franklin Park in Boston, Massachusetts. The Mount Holyoke College Cross Country team bagged second place at the championship. This is the highest rank for the varsity team since 1992.

Hannah Rieders ’21 and Madeline Rieders ’21 were at the forefront of the team, placing fourth and fifth respectively. The finish was close, with both clocking a time of 22:42.

Lauren Selkin ’23 followed in 16th place with a time of 23:35. Selkin, along with the Rieders twins, was awarded NEWMAC All-Conference Honors. This is the first time since 2015 that cross country have been awarded All-Conference Honors.

Cross Country wins first place at Invitational

BY GIGI PICARD ’22

Mount Holyoke Cross Country concluded their regular racing season with a first place finish at the Western New England Invitational. The Lyons sped past 17 teams, including New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) members Babson College and Clark University, on the 6k course, coming in with 40 total points on Saturday, Oct. 19.

Hannah Rieders ’21 and Madeline Rieders ’21 tied for first place. Lauren Selkin ’23 and Olivia Griesmer ’23 finished consecutively for 11th and 12th place and Simone Jacob ’21 finished 14th overall.

“We have a ... motto to remember that you are never racing alone, and all your training is not just for your own goals but to support and help your teammates reach their goals as well,” Griesmer said about the race.

Hannah and Madeline Rieders, Selkin, Griesmer, Jacob, Hyde, Milligan, Ravino, Anderson, Kearney, Dillon, Gronbeck, Rodman, Wrobleski, Lindblom, Klein and Craig recorded best 6k times at the Invitational.

“Even though we had our first 6k this weekend, we brought the same energy that we’ve brought to 5ks this season and just focused on racing hard and having a good time,” captain Kayla Dillon ’20 said.

In two weeks, Lyons Cross Country will travel to Franklin Park, Massachusetts, to race at the NEWMAC Championships on Sunday, Nov. 3.

“Our goal is to place in the top three in the conference,” Dillon said. “I’m really excited to go out and have fun racing hard and to show the rest of the conference what Mount Holyoke is about.”