By: Erin Madden
BEREA, Ohio – The Baldwin Wallace University women's swimming and diving team defeated Wilmington College in the Ohio Athletic Conference and dual meet opener inside the BW Natatorium.
The Yellow Jackets (1-0, 1-0 OAC) beat Wilmington by a final score of 104-99.
Individual event victories came from senior All-OAC freestyler Allie Thorson (Amherst/Marion Steele), junior All-OAC stroker Marissa Kural (LaGrange, Ill./Lyons Township) and freshman freestyler Julia Newbould (Strongsville). Thorson swept both the 1,000-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle events in times of 11:39.99 and 5:41.47. Kural picked up her win in the 100-yard butterfly as she touched the wall in 1:01.05 while Newbould registered a victory in her first collegiate dual meet, claiming the top spot in the 50-yard freestyle in 26.72 seconds. Additionally, Kural and Newbould had runner-up finishes in the 100-yard individual medley and the 100-yard freestyle, respectively. Kural swam to a career-best time of 1:05.34 and Newbould had a time of 57.99 seconds for second place.
Sophomore freestyler Kayla McClintock (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township), sophomore freestyler Emily Newcamp (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) and freshman stroker LynnDee Popovich (Middleburg Heights/Reichelshelm Academy) also finished as runners-up in their events. McClintock posted a time of 11:55.74 in the 1,000-yard freestyle, Newcamp touched the wall in 2:15.75 in the 200-yard freestyle and Popovich finished the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:14.88.
As the sole competitor in the 1-meter dive, senior All-OAC diver Ellie Clymer (Independence) totaled 151.55 points in the six-dive event.
In relay action, the Yellow Jackets swept the top two spots in the 200-yard medley relay. The team of Kural, Popovich, senior All-OAC stroker Erika Nockengost (Cuyahoga Falls) and Newbould touched the wall first in 1:58.51 while the quad of senior stroker Alyssa Mahle (Aurora), Clymer, freshman stroker Aubrey Syron (Dayton/Archbishop Alter) and senior freestyler Jenna Ball (Salamanca, N.Y.) were the runners-up in 2:03.10. Thorson, McClintock, freshman stroker Natalie Kehoe (Parma/Padua Franciscan) and senior stroker Rebecca Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central) also claimed the runner-up spot in the 200-yard freestyle relay in a time of 1:54.57.
BW returns to action on for a two-day meet on Friday and Sunday, October 25-26, when the Yellow Jackets host non-conference opponents Bethany (W.Va.) College, Manchester (Ind.) University and NCAA Division II Ursuline College. Friday's action begins at 6 p.m. inside the BW Natatorium.
