PISCATAWAY N.J. — Women's swimming finished their season with a fifth-place finish at the Metropolitan Conference Championship meet, held at Rutgers University. The team racked up a total of 696 points, with every Knight qualifying for finals in at least one event and earning lifetime best times across the board all weekend.
"Our women leaned on each other for support over the weekend," said Head Coach Chris Mance. "They were excited about the new opportunities they created for themselves at this meet, with 100% of them qualifying for a scoring second swim at finals and welcomed the new challenges head-on as five out of eight were able to march out for a A-Heat Championship Final."
Day One Recap
Cayla Nicholas , Stefanie Sommer , Grace MacHugh and Meghan Wurster started off night one placing third in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Somer, MacHugh, Nicholas and Wurster teamed up again for the 400-yard medley relay, where they cruised into second place.
Nicholas began her individual debut at the meet with a record-breaking 50-yard freestyle swim, which earned her second place. Her time of 24.99 in preliminaries set a new record for the college, which stood since 2015 at 25.41, when it was set by Danielle Rodriguez. Nicholas then broke her own record with a 24.94 at finals.
Wurster swam to second in her first individual event of the meet in the 500-yard freestyle (5:27.47). Sommer earned 10th in the event (6:07.64), followed by Rhiannon Mulkerrins in 13th (6:30.54) and Victoria DeLuca in 18th (6:56.15).
MacHugh earned second place in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:20.46.
Kate Cerven swam to 21st in the 50-yard freestyle with a 28.65.
Day Two Recap
MacHugh earned another top-three finish in the 400-yard individual medley on night two, placing third with her time of 4:57.38.
Nicholas placed fourth in the 100-yard butterfly (1:04.03), followed by Kate Cerven in 11th (1:26.12).
Wurster picked up fourth place in her 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:05.70. Mulkerrins also swam in the event, placing 10th with a 2:20.58, followed by DeLuca in 18th (2:37.85).
Sommer placed fifth in the 100-yard backstroke, coming in at 1:07.03.
To conclude night two, Cerven, Mulkerrins, DeLuca and Raquel Ortiz earned fifth in the 800-yard freestyle relay.
Day Three Recap
The final day of competition started the 1650-yard freestyle, where Wurster swam to second place with a time of 18:55.15. Mulkerrins and DeLuca also swam the event, coming in seventh (23:23.43) and 10th (24:29.74), respectively.
Sommer earned fifth in her 200-yard backstroke with a 2:26.22.
In the 100-yard freestyle, Cerven touched out competitors in the B-Final for 14th place at a time of 1:04.11. Ortiz also swam to 24th with a time of 1:33.97.
MacHugh picked up another second-place swim in the 200-yard breaststroke with a 2:36.40.
Nicholas had her final individual swim in the 200-yard butterfly, where she placed second at a time of 2:39.25.
The weekend ended with the 400-yard freestyle relay. Nicholas, Wurster, MacHugh and Sommer earned fourth place at 3:55.98.
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