Wellesley College swimming and diving opened their 2016-17 season on Sunday afternoon when they competed against MIT and Springfield at the MIT’s Zesiger Center Pool. The MIT Engineers took first place followed by the Springfield Pride. Wellesley finished the meet with 11 top-five times, led by sophomore Cathy Chen (Parsippany, NJ) in the 100 meter backstroke.  Chen finished the race in 1:00.17. The Blue will be in the pool again Nov 12 at the Chandler Pool, when they take on Simmons College at 1 P.M.

This past week the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) announced the 2016 Academic All-Conference selections for women’s cross country, field hockey, soccer, tennis, and volleyball. To qualify for the Academic All-Conference Team a student athlete must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.5/4.0, achieved second year academic status in her institution and been a member of the varsity for the entire season. This year 18 fall student-athletes earned Academic All-Conference honors. Cross Country: Taylor Fortnam ’18, Clare Salerno ’18, Alice Zhou ’17; Field Hockey: Haley Chrobock ’19, Emmy Hamilton ’18, Paige Hauke ’19, Arielle Mitropoulos ’19; Soccer: Alex Dionne ’19, Melise Knowles ’18, Zoe Matticks ’18, Gabriela Portilla ‘19, Kelly Hoover ‘19; Tennis: Justine Huang ’19, Dasha Kostikina ’17; Volleyball: Samantha Hoang ’19, Alex Kew ’19, Michelle Li ’19, Alina Mota ’18.

While the Blue fell to NEWMAC rival Mount Holyoke in the conference quarterfinals they are still experiencing success in post-season accolades. Seniors Courtney Peterson (Glastonbury, CT), Nikki Sharkin (Summit, NJ) and junior teammate Emmy Hamilton (New York, NY) received All-NEWMAC honors. Peterson and Sharkin’s impressive senior campaign granted them a spot on the first team, while Hamilton earned second team honors. Peterson and Sharkin were also selected to play in the annual NFHCA Senior Game on Nov 19 at William Smith College.