This past Friday, the George Kennedy Aquatic Center held its last home meet of the season, hosting the Eagles of Mary Washington. The fourth-ranked Hopkins women’s swim team cruised right past the Eagles with a dominating 135-57 win.
The Lady Jays started off strong, grabbing both first- and second-place finishes in the 200 medley relay. Composed of seniors Hannah Benn, Maggie Storm, Kylie Holden and Ana Bogdanovski, the relay team brought the first win of the night with a time of 1:49.93. Following shortly behind them with a time of 1:53.64 were freshmen Natalia Rincon, Anna Wisniewski and Sara Wujciak, and sophomore Sarah Westley.
The Lady Jays finished the 900 free relay in the same manner, bringing in points for both first- and second-place finishes. Sophomore Kristin Kaiser and freshmen Kaitlin Jones and Courtney Cowan combined for a time of 9:20.26, grabbing first place. Sophomore Helena Arose, senior Sammi Fox and freshman Gwynnie LaMastra finished in a time of 9:23.78, good enough for second-place honors and giving the Lady Jays a total of 15 points for the relay.
Hopkins dominated the next three events, bringing in 48 team points by taking the top three spots in each event.
In the 100 back, Bogdanovski hit the wall first with a time of 1:00.09. Right on her heels was freshman Michelle Kim, who hit the wall less than a second after Bogdanovski and grabbed a second-place finish with a time of 1:00.70. A few strokes behind Kim was Kaiser, who finished third with a time of 1:04.04.
The Lady Jays hit the water again, this time for the 100 breaststroke. Wisniewski dominated the event, hitting all turns far before anyone in the pool. She grabbed first place with a time of 1:08.73. Claiming second place was Arose with a time of 1:12.56, followed by freshman Lena DiPrizito taking third place with a time of 1:14.11.
The 150 fly saw Hopkins sophomores in all three top spots. Coming in first with a time of 1:32.04 was sophomore Shirley Chan. Abby Brown hit the wall shortly after classmate Chan, claiming second place with a time of 1:34.60. Sophomore Lindsay Kriz finished third with a time of 1:40.92.
Following the fly was the 200 free relay. The Lady Jays didn’t pull away with the top three spots but still dominated, grabbing both first- and second-place finishes. Coming in first were LaMastra, Jones, Diprizito and freshman Lena Bless with a winning time of 1:40.80. Fox, Holden and juniors Ellen Marcus and Sean McGrath grabbed second place with a time of 1:42.17.
Holden had a quick turn around, racing in the following event, the 100 free. As soon as the swimmers hit the water, it was apparent that it was going to be a close finish. Holden and Mary Washington’s Shannon Coryell stayed right with each other until the last few meters where Holden pulled away slightly. Hitting the wall just 0.19 seconds ahead of Coryell, Holden claimed first place with a time of 54.56. Bless grabbed third place with a time of 55.57.
The Lady Jays took first and second in the 150 back, McGrath finishing with a winning time of 1:34.78 and Benn grabbing second with a time of 1:35.79. Hopkins would parallel first and second in the 150 breast. Shimizu and Fox claimed the top two spots with times of 1:48.24 and 1:52.43.
The final four events were exhibition events that consisted of the mixed 600 free relay, 100 fly, 100 IM and mixed 400 medley relay. Hopkins finished first in each of the events after winning the first nine events.
With the win over Mary Washington, the Lady Jays finish the regular season with a 7-2 record. Hopkins is now focusing on the 2015 Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships, scheduled for Feb. 11-14 in Charlotte, N.C.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The News-Letter.