WATERVILLE, Maine -- Bates first-year
Sophie Cassily won the conference title in the 200-yard backstroke to highlight the fourth and final day of the NESCAC Women's Swimming & Diving Championships, as the Bobcats finished in fourth place out of 11 teams for the third straight season.
Cassily (Rye, N.H.) is now the greatest backstroker in program history, having set new team records in the 50 (26.03), the 100 (55.23, NCAA "B" Cut) and the 200 (1:57.98, NCAA "B" Cut) as just a rookie, earning All-NESCAC honors in all three events as a top-three finisher in the conference. She was runner-up in the 50 and 100 backstroke, and on Sunday she claimed the conference title in the 200 by more than 2.5 seconds over runner-up Abby Claus of Tufts University.
For her efforts, Cassily was named the NESCAC Rookie of the Year.
The Bobcats received a pair of NCAA "B" cut swims in the 1650 yard freestyle. Sophomore
Julia Johnson (Cleveland Heights, Ohio) made it to the podium with a finals time of 17:18.88, good for seventh place in the field. First-year
Stephanie Tropper (Solon, Ohio) took ninth in 17:26.44.
The Bates 400 yard freestyle relay team of senior captain
Caroline Sweeney (New Canaan, Conn.), first-year
Sophia Carrai (Eugene, Ore.), senior
Suzy Ryckman (Riverside, Conn.) and sophomore
Grace Wenger (Hanover, N.H.) finished in fifth place with an NCAA "B" Cut time of 3:28.28.
Junior
Abigail Gibbons (Westtown, N.Y.) continued her outstanding meet with an eighth-place showing in the 200 yard breaststroke, recording a prelims time of 2:22.84 and a finals time of 2:25.00.
Bates scored 1,020 team points over the four days, trailing only Tufts (1,809), Williams (1,758.5) and Amherst (1,136) while scoring well ahead of the rest of the field, led by fifth-place Bowdoin (877.5). It is the third straight year the No. 13 nationally ranked Bobcats have claimed fourth place in the NESCAC.
The Bates men's team next competes in the NESCAC Men's Championships, Feb. 17-20 at Colby. Then the NCAA Division III Championships follow March 16-20 in Indianapolis.
