The Colby College men’s and women’s swim teams earned their first win of 2011 on Friday evening versus Norwich University. This was the first competition for the majority of the junior class, who had returned over the break from being abroad in various countries. Overall, the teams had a fantastic meet given the long bus ride and trying weeks of training that preceeded it.
Both medley relays started off with first place finishes. The women’s 400 medley team of Annie Bacher ’14, Chelsea Heneghan ’11, Kathryn Lee ’13, and Kelsey Cromie ’14 went a 4:25.59. On the men’s side, the team of John Madeira ’14, Mason Roberts ’12, Ryan Trafton ’12, and Craig Zevin ’11 had arguably the most exciting race of the day, finishing in 4:14.75, just a half a second ahead of Norwich.
Following the relay, Heather Cronin ’13, Shannon Kooser ’14, and Carly Rushford ’13 swept the 1000 freestyle in 11:21.18, 12:25.21, and 12:48.26. For the men, Ryan Fischer won in 10:57.21. In the 200 free, the women swept again with Lee, Mandy Ferguson ’12, and Sarah Hansen ’12 in 2:01.16, 2:01.42, and 2:10.65. Rieling defied all odds for the men, winning by .31 in 1:53.2, with Charlie Wulff ’11 coming in 4th in 2:01.81 and Ben Lewis in 5th in 2:01.84. In the 50 free, first year Kayla Lewkowicz won her first collegiate race in 26.98, and was followed by Laura Burns ‘12 in second and Sarah Nalven ‘13 in third. For the men, James Hootsmans ’13 finished 2nd in 23.74, and Tom Hurley ‘12 finished in a season best 24.23. In the 200 IM, Leah Walpuck ’13 had a season best and first place finish in 2:27.30, and was followed by junior Charlotte Veazie in 2:27.35. The men swept the event with Fischer (2:06.76), Madeira (2:09.04- SB), and first year Colin McLaughlin (2:13.68- SB).
Martha Mesna, the sole diver competing, had a stellar performance scoring 158.55 points. Rosie Wennberg and Hana Haver had season bests and took first and second place in the 200 fly in 2:28.8 and 2:32.87. McLaughlin took first for the men in 2:20.00, a season best, followed by Trafton in 2:23.55 and Sam Andler ’12 in 2:41.86. The women sprinters swept the 100 with 1st from first year Jenna Mahaffie, 2nd from junior Jenny Reiner, and 3rd from Kelsey Cromie, while the men took 1st, 3rd, and 5th with Rieling, Hootsmans, and Roberts. Junior Jess Blais had an exceptional first race back in the 200 back, finishing in 2:20.93, followed by Erin Schnettler ’11 in 2:23.17. John Madeira took first for the men in 2:06.54, followed by Adam Spierer ’13 in 3rd in 2:26.18. Chelsea Heneghan set a pool record and had a season best in the 500 free, finishing in 5:16.43, with fellow senior Leigh Carey finishing behind her in a season best 5:40.23. First year Patricia Kelly rounded out the Colby sweep, finishing in 6:01.27. Fischer won the event for the men in 5:13.67. The 200 breaststroke was won by Josie Bazemore ’13 in 2:38.62, followed by Kayleigh Monahan ’13 in 2:44.64, and Mesna in 2:49.21. For the men, junior Mason Roberts and first year Colin McLaughlin teamed up to go 1-2 in 2:29.03 and 2:31.15. Both relay teams finished strong, with the final score of the women’s meet 119 to 56, and the men’s 121.5 to 83.5.
On Saturday, Colby closed out the weekend with some strong swims against Middlebury. In the rarely-swum 100 Individual Medley Relay, the Colby team of Chelsea Heneghan, Charlotte Veazie, Kathryn Lee, and Kayleigh Monahan came in 3rd place in 4:24.41. For the men, John Madeira, Colin McLaughlin, Ryan Fischer, and Ryan Trafton came in 4th in 4:05.42. Mandy Ferguson and Ray Rieling were the top finishers in the 500 free, finishing in 5:24.94 and 5:21.54, good for 3rd place for both. In the 50 back, Colby went three, five and six with Jenna Mahaffie, Jess Blais, and Sarah Nalven. In the women’s 50 breast, Colby picked up a win from senior Craig Zevin in 28.83, and third and fourth place finishes from Mason Roberts and Colin McLaughlin in 29.71 and 30.79. In the women’s 50 fly, Rosie Wennberg took second place in 27.81, Kathryn Lee took 4th in 28.59, and Hana Haver took 6th in 29.67. For the men, Colby picked up a third place finish from Ryan Trafton in 25.36.
The Colby women swam to their first win of the meet in the 200 free, with a 1:58.25 from Chelsea Heneghan. She was followed by Jenny Reiner and Charlotte Veazie in 6th and 7th. For the men, Ryan Fischer finished 2nd in 1:52.43, with 6th and 7th places from John Madeira and Charlie Wulff. In the 50 free, Jenna Mahaffie took 2nd in 25.9, Sarah Hansen took 4th in 26.6, and Kayleigh Monahan took 6th in 27.04. For the men, Rieling was the only mule in the pool, and he finished 2nd in 23.93. Distance specialist Mandy Ferguson came back to win the 1000 in 11:05.92, with Leigh Carey in 5th and Annie Bacher in 6th. Heneghan and Veazie teamed up with Heather Cronin to take 5th, 6th, and 7th in the 400 IM. For the men, Madeira, Fischer and McLaughlin went 3-4 and 6. The second win for the women came from Rosie Wennberg in the 100 fly, in a season best 1:01.96. She was followed by Kathryn Lee in 2nd with a 1:01.98. In the 100 back, Jess Blais finished 4th in 1:04.71 with Sarah Nalven in 5th in 1:05.63. In the 100 breaststroke, Bazemore, Carly Rushford, and Kelsey Cromie went 5,6 and 7, and the men took 3,4 and 6 with breaststrokers Zevin, Roberts, and Spierer.
Heneghan had her second win of the day in the 100 free, finishing in 55.05, with Jenna Mahaffie finishing 3rd in 56.39 and Sarah Hansen in 8th with 59.76. For the men, Ryan Fischer finished in 52.31, McLaughlin in 54.14, and Hootsmans in 54.53. In the men’s 1000, Ray Rieling took 3rd in 11:16.33 and Charlie Wulff took 5th in 12:04.86. In the last event of the day, the women’s 200 free relay team of Hansen, Lewkowicz, Ferguson, and Burns took 4th, while the men’s team of Hootsmans, Rieling, Roberts, and Trafton took 5th.
The Performers of the Meets for the weekend were voted on by their team members. For the men, Ray Rieling “swam lights out across the board” showing his true competitive spirit. At Norwich, Rieling had a spectacular come from behind victory in the 200 free, winning by just .31 of a second. Then, in the 100 free, Rieling tied for first in 51.75.
For the women, the Performer of the Meet was women’s captain Chelsea Heneghan. This is Chelsea’s second week being named Performer of the Meet, due in a large part to her “amazing competitive spirit.” Chelsea not only won the 500 free at Norwich, she broke the pool record. Then, at Middlebury, Chelsea won the 200 and the 100 free, proving all her hard work during training trip paid off.
