By Julia Cunningham and Cathleen Pruden, Swimming World College Interns
January 23 to 24 five women’s teams competed at Wellesley College for the 2016 Seven Sisters Championship. At the end of the two day, three session event, the Wellesley Blue claimed their 19th straight title amassing 1,212 points. Vassar College finished second (779.5), and was followed by Mount Holyoke College (681), Smith College (629.5) and Bryn Mawr College (255).
Action began on an exciting note as the Mount Holyoke team of Katie Tyler, Annie Kuenning, Emily Craig, and Cathleen Pruden out touched Wellesley’s A squad of Dorothy Ren, Crystal Zhu, Patricia Chen, and Cathy Chen in the 200 freestyle relay 1:40.60 to 1:40.85. The Wellesley B team of Jessie Feng, Erin Yang, Francesca Dong, and Lindsey Wu finished third (1:44.51).
The energy continued throughout the weekend. Vassar’s Sammy Stone claimed the 500 freestyle by six seconds (5:10.46). Her teammate Kael Ragnini touched third (5:21.45). Wellesley’s Ieva Galinyte finished second (5:16.18).
In the 200 IM, Pruden set a new Seven Sisters record with her final time of 2:05.81, which was also under the NCAA B standard. Vassar’s Julia Cunningham was second in a 2:10.65, just ahead of Ren (2:10.86).
Cathy Chen (25.04) narrowly defeated Tyler (25.08) in the 50 freestyle. Bryn Mawr’s Lillian Oyen-Ustad (25.11) was right behind Tyler for third.
In the final event Saturday morning, Wellesley’s team of Sunny Chiang, Charlotte Harris, Ren, and Galinyte stopped the clock at 4:03.57 in the 400 medley relay. Their teammates Fiona Chung, Yang, Karen Wang, and Patricia Cheng were third (4:10.96). Mount Holyoke’s Kuenning, Pruden, Bri Groves, and Erica Carvell finished second (4:08.71).
Photo Courtesy: Kenneth Chung
Wellesley continued to dominate Saturday afternoon, finishing first and second in the 200 medley relay. The A squad of Cathy Chen, Harris, Ren, and Galinyte posted a Seven Sisters record time of 1:50.16. Chung, Yang, Wang, and Zhu swam a 1:53.94. Mount Holyoke’s Kuenning, Groves, Sarah Crocker, and Tyler touched third (1:54.83).
In the second IM event of the day, Pruden (4:26.35) and Cunningham (4:33.38) again finished first and second, both posting NCAA B cuts. Wang finished third (4:39.34), breaking Wellesley’s oldest school record in the process.
Just minutes later, Cunningham and Wang returned to the pool in the 100 butterfly. Cunningham broke her own Seven Sisters record with a time of 57.52. Wang was third (1:01.20). Ren finished second (57.93).
Another meet record fell in the 200 freestyle as Stone hit the wall at 1:55.25. Galinyte (1:58.32) and Harris (2:01.74) were second and third. Harris was back in the pool minutes later, this time winning the 100 breaststroke (1:09.63). Her teammate Cathy Chen was second (1:10.97) and Groves rounded out the top three (1:11.54).
Wellesley finished strong with another win in the 100 backstroke, with Ren taking down her own meet record (57.78). She was followed by Oyen-Ustad in second (1:00.39) and Chung in third (1:02.52).
The afternoon wrapped up with the 800 freestyle relay, led by Wellesley’s A team of Galinyte, Wang, Chiang, and Harris (7:59.37). They were followed by Vassar’s A team of Marie Schmidt, Kael Ragnini, Cunningham, and Stone (8:05.88). Wellesley’s B team of Emma de Goede, Feng, Wu, and Chung, took third (8:32.60).
Wellesley’s reigning NCAA 3 meter National Champion Maura Sticco-Ivins shone on both boards this weekend. Saturday afternoon, she set a Seven Sisters record scoring 530.00 points on the one meter. She was followed by Smith’s Elly Stone (480.00) and Cecelia Arrison (479.00). The top seven divers in the event qualified for NCAA Regionals.
On the three meter board Sunday morning, Sticco-Ivins narrowly bested her own Seven Sisters record, scoring 514.90 points, just ahead of teammate Emily Moore (507.35). Arrison was third (487.10).
Photo Courtesy: Kenneth Chung
Sunday morning began with a dominating win in the 1650 from Pruden (17:19.99). The time, an NCAA B cut, broke her own meet record from 2014. She was followed by Stone in second (17:49.65) and Galinyte in third (18:14.88).
Wellesley made a statement in the next event, the 200 backstroke, going one-two-three. Ren had an impressive win, earning the second NCAA B cut of the morning, crushing the Seven Sisters record set back in 2009 and taking down yet another Wellesley record (2:04.08). Chiang and Chung followed in second (2:10.53) and third (2:13.31) respectively.
In the following 100 freestyle, Stone slipped past the competition to capture her third individual win of the meet (54.98). Galinyte followed in second (55.41) with Cathy Chen close behind in third (55.65).
In the 200 breaststroke, Pruden just missed the NCAA B cut with her win, but she took down her Seven Sisters record from 2015 and posted a new school record (2:23.77). She was followed by teammate Groves in second (2:31.41) and Harris in third (2:31.85).
Cunningham stepped up with a win and an NCAA B cut in the 200 butterfly (2:05.55). Wang came in second (2:10.89) and Feng in third (2:14.32).
In the final event of the meet, the 400 freestyle relay, Wellesley again proved dominant with their A team of Chung, Chiang, Patricia Chen, and Cathy Chen finishing first (3:40.47). The Mount Holyoke A team of Craig, Tyler, Groves, and Pruden touched in a close second (3:41.13). Vassar’s A team of Stone, Milee Nelson, Cunningham, and Lily Frye claimed third (3:45.33).
Full results available here: 2016 Seven Sisters Championship – Results
Julia and Cathleen, what a great article! Thank you for sharing what the Seven Sisters Championship means to the athletes involved!