Williams College Sinks Rival Amherst

By Lauren Williams, Swimming World Intern
After a month away, the Williams College Ephs made a splash last Saturday, taking down their longtime rivals Amherst College. The men’s team won the dual meet 156-78, while the women won the meet 216-72. With this win, the Lady Ephs remain undefeated while the men are now 4-0-1. The Jeffs posted their first loss of the season, dropping to 4-1 while the Lady Jeffs are now 3-2

“This rivalry always gets the team fired up and ready to race,” sophomore Ben Lin said in an email. “I think most people, including me, were also excited about how fast we could go, especially after training trip.”

Lin, who took first in the 200 backstroke (1:50.86), nabbed a ‘B’ cut earlier in the team’s season opener against Springfield College.

Senior Thad Ricotta finished the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:51.65 touching the wall before Amherst junior Jeff Anderson (1:52.30).

“[It] was very exciting because it was incredibly close at the 150 mark,” Lin said. “A couple of us, Tim Lattimer, Thad Ricotta, Christian Gronbeck, and maybe a few others have already grabbed ‘B’ cuts, which shows great potential for a fantastic championship season.”

The men also placed first and second place in the 400 medley relay. Lin, Jake Tamposi, Thad Ricotta, and Alexander Nanda took top honors stopping the clock at 3:23.51. Teammates Colin Hogan, Jon Yin, Timothy Kostolansky and Nathaniel Boley finished took second with a time of 3:28.78.

The Ephs started out with a bang as the women captured victory in the 200 medley relay. The Williams foursome of Katherine Bennett, Breanna Nguyen, Emma Waddell and Sarah Thompson finished the event with a time of 1:47.11, beating out Amherst’s Stephanie Moriaty, Emily Hyde, Sarah Conklin and Sabrina Lee, who finished with a time of 1:49.24.

Williams’ senior Sarah Thompson took home first place and a ‘B’ cut in the 500 freestyle. The Illinois native posted a time of 5:02.19, roughly two seconds faster than her teammate Megan Pierce (5:05.10).

“It is easier to get up and swim fast if you are getting excited by other people’s swims and swimming fast for your team,” Thompson said. “It was cool to win the 500 at this meet. It’s always nice to win anything against a rival team. Going the ‘B’ cut was a nice bonus.”

Amherst junior Emily Hyde added some much needed points to the Lady Jeffs with victories in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. The New York state native finished the race in 1:06.98 and 2:24.62 respectively.

Connor Sholtis took home top honors in the 100 free narrowly out touching Williams junior Alex McCarter. The Amherst senior stopped the clock at 46.87 while McCarter touched .04 seconds behind for a time of 46.91. Sholtis also helped his team close the meet with a victory in the 400 free relay. The foursome of Sholtis, Tyler Hampton, Alex Dreisbach, and Jeff Anderson won the event with a time of 3:08.18 while the Williams squad finished a second behind.

Since the end of World War II, Williams and Amherst have been facing off in the pool. With another year under their belt, Williams now holds a 54-13 record. The Lady Ephs are now 35-4 since they began this face-off in 1977.

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