BRUNSWICK — The Bowdoin College women’s swimming and diving team earned fifth overall at the conclusion of the 2020 NESCAC Championship, held this past weekend at Middlebury, Vermont.
The Polar Bears ended the weekend with 849 points for comfortable fifth-place finish. The Williams College Ephs won the meet for their seventh straight championship.
Mary Laurita had another strong performance on Sunday, posting an NCAA B cut time in the 100 free (52.02) and earning eighth-place overall. Amanda Banasiak placed 11th in the event.
Nadia Eguchi made the podium in the 1,650, placing seventh, and also put together a B cut time. Anna Roberts capped her NESCAC debut with a fifth-place finish in the 200 breaststroke and an NCAA B cut (2:20.90). Emily Jacobs earned points with a 22nd place finish.
Thea Kelsey capped her final NESCAC performance with a fifth-place result in the 3-meter diving event with 421.85 points. Kelsey was the senior high point diver of the meet.
Bowdoin’s final relay team of the meet took seventh in the 400 free. Laurita, Kate Fosburgh, Marshall Lowery and Banasiak combined for a time of 3:29.23 and a B cut.
Lowery was fourth for senior high point awards.
On Saturday, the 200 medley relay team of Lowery, Roberts, Laurita and Banasiak set a school record and earned an NCAA B cut time (1:44,25). Laurita broke her own school record in the 100 fly prelim (54.62), and took second in the evening’s finals (55.03).
The NCAA Championship begins on March 18 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Indoor track
Bowdoin posted a number of personal-bests at the Dave Hemery Valentine Invitational last weekend in Boston.
In a field that included dozens of Division I squads, the top finish of the weekend came from the men’s 4 x 400 relay team, which placed 18th overall. Ajay Olson (50.2), Stevie Upton (50.6), Soren Birkeland (50.8) and Mateo Rivera (48.9) combined for a time of 3:21.01.
Other top finishes for the Polar Bears included personal-bests for John Auer in the mile (4:20.21) and for Ajay Olson in the 400 (49.59).
On the women’s side, Caroline Shipley had a personal-best in the mile (5:01.55), which places her 23rd on the NCAA Division III performance list. Emma Beane had personal-bests in the 200 (26.17) and 400 (58.64), as did Morgen Gallagher in the 200 (26.16) and 400 (59.61).
Bowdoin also had strong showings in the distance events that saw personal-bests from Julia Zitzmann in the 800 (2:21.39), Cameron MacKenzie in the 1,000 (3:05.87) and Sadie Saxton in the 3,000 (10:24. 19).
The Polar Bears will return home this weekend for the Bowdoin Invitational IV at Farley Field House in the Polar Bears’ final outing before the New England Division III Championships on Feb. 29.
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