WATERVILLE, Maine -- The Bates women's swimming and diving team turned in an outstanding session on Saturday, breaking four school records and recording six top-8 finishes to surge from sixth to four place with one day remaining at the NESCAC Championships. 

Saturday's evening session started with the 200 medley relay finals, where the Bates team of first-year Sophie Cassily (Rye, N.H.), junior Abigail Gibbons (Westtown, N.Y.), first-year Halé Oal (Huntington Woods, Mich.) and sophomore Marjorie McLeod (Durham, Maine) swam an NCAA "B" Cut time of 1:43.07, taking third place in the event for an All-NESCAC performance, and breaking the program record along the way.

In the loaded 200 yard freestyle field, 10 swimmers recorded an NCAA "B" Cut time on Saturday, including Bates sophomore Grace Wenger (Hanover, N.H.), who earned All-NESCAC honors with a Bates record time of 1:49.41, good for third place in the event. 

Gibbons, who won the NESCAC title and set a school record in the 50 yard breaststroke on Friday, followed that up with a third-place showing in the 100 yard breaststroke on Saturday, She raced to the finish in an NCAA "B" cut and school-record time of 1:03.05.

In another amazing performance, Cassily was the NESCAC runner-up in the 100 yard backstroke, breaking the Bates record with an NCAA "B" Cut time of 55.23. 

Sophomore Natalie Young (Windham, N.H.) swam an NCAA "B" cut time of 4:28.70, placing fifth in the 400 yard IM. 

First-year Stephanie Tropper (Solon, Ohio) continued her late-season emergence with an eighth-place showing in the 1,000 yard freestyle. She destroyed her seed time of 11:01.44 with a mark of 10:22.78 in the final. 

In total, the Bobcats have accumulated 735 points through three days, good for fourth place out of 11 schools with one day remaining. They are currently within striking distance of third-place Amherst, as the Mammoths have 793 points. 

Sunday's prelims begin at 10am, with the finals set for 5:30pm.