Golden Bears Fall to Westfield State in Home Opener
Snider leads Western New England with two event wins
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (November 7, 2018) – The Western New England University women's swimming team fell to Westfield State University, 135-107, in the Golden Bears' home opener on Wednesday night at the Alumni Healthful Living Center Pool.
The Owls won ten of the 14 events, led by senior Shannon Fitzsimmons (Andover, Mass.), junior Kelsey Johnstone (Southwick, Mass.) and sophomore Kait Kelly (Hampden, Mass.), who picked up two wins each. Westfield State also captured both relay events.
Western New England junior Kayla Snider (Leesburg, Va.) and freshman Hannah Tricarico (Seymour, Conn.) both won a pair of events for the Golden Bears, while sophomore Sarah Bartlett (Branford, Conn.) was victorious once.
Snider swam to first place in both the 50-yard butterfly (30.21 seconds) and the 100-yard individual medley (1:08.73), posting season-best times in both events.
Tricarico turned in her top efforts of the season in the 50-freestyle (27.92 seconds) and 100-freestyle (1:00.25) while winning both races.
Bartlett accounted for Western New England's fifth event win in the 500-freestyle, which she captured with a career-best time of 6:15.54.
Junior Emily Elliott (Cortland, N.Y.) had a pair of strong showings as she swam to a season-best time in the 100-IM (1:10.29) and a career-best time in the 100-breaststroke (1:15.74). Elliott finished second in both events.
Freshman Gianna Biolo (Watertown, Conn.) posted her top times of the season in the 100-IM (1:17.73), the 100-breaststroke (1:23.60) and the 1000-freestyle (12:49.57).
Also registering season-best times were senior Anna Boucher (Merrimack, N.H.) in the 100-butterfly (1:26.61), sophomore Lauren Mangiaratti (Ashland, Mass.) in the 100-breaststroke (1:17.67) and freshman Mary Margaret Getman (Oneonta, N.Y.) in the 100-backstroke (1:12.48).
Both Mangiaratti and Elliott earned NEISDA Championship 'A' qualifying times in the 50-breaststroke, while Snider did the same in the 50-backstroke.
Western New England (0-2) will travel to Wenham, Mass. for a dual meet at Gordon College on Saturday at 12 p.m.
