Swimming and squash take second at Sisters

Elizabeth Pacheco Sports Editor

On Jan. 20-Jan. 21 the Vassar women’s swimming and squash teams both placed second at their annual Seven Sisters Tournaments. Although facing challenging competitors, the Brewer women still gave outstanding performances, receiving various Seven Sisters Tournament honors.

While host Wellesley College took the Seven Sisters swimming title for the 10th year in a row, the Brewers posted equally impressive times. “Such a supportive environment prompts everyone to swim faster and reach beyond,” said Coach Lisl Prater-Lee. “We are proud that we were able to make that happen last weekend and to bring a strong second-place team finish back home to Vassar.”

Breaking a 2001 Seven Sisters record held by a Wellesley swimmer, Emily Love ’09 swam a 2:10:98 in the 200-Backstroke. Only her second-best for the season, the time has secured her place as one of the “top three in the Women’s New York State collegiate swimming conference” (athletics.vassar.edu).

Another sophomore, Allison Koenker, received All-Seven Sisters Honors for her 400-Yard Individual Medley (the event consists of the four strokes: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle) time of 4:43:59, which broke previous meet records. Members of the All-Seven Sisters team also included Blaire Fromm ’07 and Jordana Jantze ’10, who, along with Love and Koenker, made up the 400-yard Medley Relay Team that broke the previous meet record.

“In discussing the meet, all of the senior women on the team agreed that this particular Seven Sisters was the best Seven Sisters we’d participated in over the course of four years of swimming at Vassar,” said co-captain Rachel Herrmann ’07. “My freshman year, the team placed fifth out of five teams; to place second represents the growth the team has experienced and our potential as a strong group of female swimmers.”

Other highlights from the meet include a second-place finish (and second-best season time of 18:51:57) for Charley Young ’09 in the 1650-Freestyle, the same race in which Stacey Mack ’09 and co-captain Kathryn Swallow ’07 had career-best times of 19:43:27 and 20:46:92, respectively, resulting in fifth and eighth place finishes. The Brewers furthered their success in the rest of their races, with many swimmers clocking both season and career-best times.

“Sure, the All-Seven Sisters team honors and Seven Sisters meet records are fantastic additions to the event, but the overall team place and team effort are a true testament to just how strong this women’s program really is,” said Prater-Lee. Luckily, the swim team will have an opportunity to challenge Wellesley again for the title because, unlike in many other sports, the participating schools have opted to continue the Seven Sisters swim meet tradition.

Having won the Seven Sisters squash tournament the past four years, the second-seeded Brewers had hoped to hold on to their title. While first-seeded Mount Holyoke College came through as the victor, the two-day tournament gave the team an opportunity to challenge themselves before their end-of-season competitions.

Shutting out Haverford College and Smith College 9-0 on the first day, Vassar unfortunately fell 8-1 in the finals to Mount Holyoke, with Judy Jarvis ’07 the only player posting a win. Despite this, four Vassar players were named to the all-tournament team. In the fourth spot was Amalia Sax-Bolder ’08, in fifth was Judy Jarvis ’07, in sixth was captain Blair Komar ’07 and in seventh was Anna Licht ’10.

“I’m proud of the team’s performance this past weekend at the Seven Sisters Tournament. I look forward to some good games in the future against Middlebury, Wesleyan, and whichever teams we play in the Howe Cup,” said Komar. Before the Howe Cup (the College Squash Association’s Team Championships) the Brewers will compete in the Vassar Team Challenge on Feb. 3-Feb. 4, where they will hopefully continue their successes by defeating Smith College, The George Washington University and Columbia University.