ALLENTOWN, Pa. – A depleted Gallaudet University women's swimming and diving team traveled to North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) foe Cedar Crest College and lost a close meet 102-92 on Saturday evening.
Gallaudet (2-5) was out the services of several key swimmers as injuries and illness impacted its roster for this conference meet. The victory is the first in the Cedar Crest swimming program's two-year history. The win snaps a 15-meet losing streak for the Falcons (1-2).
The Bison won four of the 11 events that the two teams competed in. Junior Brianna Stroud-Williams (Tucker, Ga.) won the 1,000-yard freestyle as she touched the wall in 13 minutes, 54.98 seconds to take three seconds off her personal best time. Sophomore Thyra Wood (Great Falls, Mont.) took first in the 200 freestyle (2:21.83) to shave five seconds off her personal record (PR). Wood also improved by over seven seconds in the 100 breaststroke (1:26.58) to place third behind senior Katie Giles (Gaithersburg, Md.), who just missed first place with a time of 1:18.80. Anna Pangracova won the 200 IM (2:51.98) and the Bison took first in the 400 freestyle relay as junior Paige Foreman (Albuquerque, N.M.), sophomore Morgane Vincent (Châtenay-Malabry, France), sophomore Taylor Mickelson (Fargo, N.D.) and Williams finished in 5:35.57.
Gallaudet saw other PRs set in the meet as Vincent took over 21 seconds off her time in the 500 freestyle (8:28.03) while Shuxu Tian (Tongling, China) dropped her 50 freestyle time to 48.74 seconds. Freshman Faye Frez-Albrecht (Canton, Conn.) improved her personal best times in two events; 50 backstroke (56.67) and 200 freestyle (3:24.15). Junior Chelsea Newberry (Twin Falls, Idaho) posted new best times in the 50 butterfly (1:03.87) and the 100 butterfly (2:41.24).
Briana Hall led the Falcons with three first-place finishes (100 butterfly, 50 and 100 freestyle) and Nithya Lakshminarayanan won two events (100 breaststroke and 500 freestyle).
Gallaudet returns home to host Marymount (Va.) University on Friday, Nov. 14, at 6 p.m.
