Swimming and diving beat Hamilton

Coming off wins against Bates and Colby, the Panthers looked to continue their success against Hamilton on Saturday.  The men scored a narrow 122-109 victory while the women defeated the Continentals 156-87.  The women’s team (4-3) is over .500 for the first time this year and the men’s team (3-4) has won three in a row.
The men started off strong on Saturday, taking the top two places in the 400-yard medley relay.  The first individual win of the day for the men would come when Nick Daly ’12 won the 50-yard freestyle by only 0.12 seconds, checking in with an impressive 22.02.
All-American John Dillon ’11 captured the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:58.82, winning by a large 3.5 second margin.
One of the highlights of the meet for the men was in the 200-yard backstroke, when Harry Anixter ’13 and Kazu Asaga ’12 took the top two spots.
“Harry continued his improvement in the backstroke events, proving that he is an elite backstroker who will be a force to be reckoned with in February,” said Dillon, the NESCAC record holder in the event.
The meet was extremely close heading into the last two races, but Captain Matt Vukich ’11 came to the rescue with a solid win in the 200-yard breaststroke.  His win solidified the victory for the Panthers as the meet would have otherwise come down to the last relay.
The women’s meet, while not as close at the end, was equally exciting.  The Continentals won the first relay and three of the first six events, keeping pace with the Panthers in the first half.
However, the women began to pull away with a surprise win in the 200-yard butterfly by Captain Emily Whitaker ’11.  The women would go on to win three of the last five races, capitalizing on their depth by taking first and second place in the 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke, and 400-yard freestyle relay.
In addition to Whitaker, Jen Friedlander ’13, Katherine Loftus ’12, Alexandra Edel ’14, and Alyssa Ha ’11 each won individual events for the Panthers.
On the diving side, the men gained many points because Hamilton did not have a diving team.  Skylar Dallmeyer-Drennen ’14 and Omar Carmical ’13 turned in good performances competing against each other.
For the women, Gemma Collins ’12 had another impressive meet, winning the 1-meter event easily.  Her score of 259.00 is currently the third-highest in the NESCAC this season.
“Once again, [our] top-end talent as well as our deep roster enabled us to outlast our NESCAC competitors,” said Coach Peter Solomon.  “It was great to see how the team has responded these past two weekends in close competition.”
The Panthers travel to Union on Saturday as they look to keep their winning streak alive in their second-to-last meet before NESCAC and NCAA Championships.