Division III Meet of the Week: Williams at Amherst in Powerhouse Rivalry

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Photo Courtesy: Williams Athletics

Few college rivalries are as old as Amherst and Williams. It is the case in swimming as well, making it the Division III Meet of the Week at Amherst.

The Williams women are ranked No. 10 in Division III, while Amherst is No. 17. In the men’s poll, Williams is No. 11 and Amherst is No. 17. All four teams are undefeated. In fact, the Williams women have won 101 consecutive dual meets.

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The Eph men are 70-37-2 vs. Amherst, but have not won in Amherst since 2010.

The Eph women have won 12 in a row vs. Amherst and lead the all-time series 39-4. The last Amherst women’s win was in 2008 at home.

Williams is coming off of a big win over Union to reach 5-0.

In the women’s meet, Despite the Ephs placing first in all the events, the 200s of stroke featured strong performances by the Ephs.

A look at the dominating performances:

The 200 butterfly displayed some strong swims by the Ephwomen competing in it. Madeleine Deardorff snuck in first place in a 2:09.34, two seconds faster than her 200 butterfly last weekend. Molly Craig won the 200 backstroke in a 2:07.84, her second 100 outsplitting her first 100. Sophomores Gabby Granata and Abby Matheny rounded out the top three places, going 2:08.26 and 2:09.67, respectively. The 200 breaststroke featured freshmen breaststroker Amanda Wager who crushed the competition in her first 200 breaststroke of the season. She cruised to a time of 2:23.49, with Veronica Wolff touching in second place in a 2:31.01, her first 200 breaststroke in college. In the 200 Individual Medley, Wolff dominated the field, plowing past the competition in a 2:10.13. Her speedy butterfly and backstroke splits powered her past the competition, ousting the rest of the field by 2.5 seconds.

WHAT’S AN EPH?

The Ephmen showed their continuing strength in the 200 butterfly this evening. The team is returning the top four NESCAC swimmers in this event, and NESCAC Champion Lucca Delcompare took home the win in a 1:53.08. Sophomore Will Zhang ruled the sprint events, winning the 50 freestyle in 21.84 and the 100 freestyle in 48.01.

Last year, the Amherst men won the dual meet but Williams won the NESCAC Championship at the end of the season.

Amherst is 4-0 and is coming off of its first Pride meet, helping support student-athletes and coaches of all sexual orientations. The meet was co-sponsored by the Queer Resource Center, Amherst Athletics, and Amherst swimming and diving. The goal of today’s event was to promote the inclusion of LGBTQ athletes and coaches to celebrate them for the outstanding people that they are. Amherst swimming and diving is proud to support all of its members, welcoming all sexual orientations and gender identities.

The event was part of a 176-5-112.5 women’s win over Middlebury and a 163-112 win for the men.

Craig Smith set the pool record in the 200 backstroke, knocking off his own previous record (1:52.19) with a time of 1:50.65. Sean Mebust beat his own previous record in the 200 breaststroke (2:04.92) with a B-cut qualification time of 2:04.41.

In the women’s meet, Natalie Rumpelt won the 200 free (1:54.30) and 500 free, Nina Fitzgerald won the 100 breaststroke (1:06.09), Grace Tarantola won the 200 backstroke (2:11.42).

It should be nothing short of another strong rivalry meet, which is why it is the Division III Meet of the Week.

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