NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College men's and women's swimming & diving teams kicked off 2009 with a pair of first-place finishes at the Wheaton Winter Invitational Saturday afternoon in Balfour Natatorium.

The women ran away with the win among the six-team field, tallying 555.5 points to runner-up Clark University's 386.5. The Lyon men also won convincingly, topping three other teams with 490.5 points. Roger Williams University posted 397 points to finish second.

Sophomore Dania Piscetta (Belmont, NH/Belmont) paced the home team with three individual event victories with top marks in the 100- and 200-yard freestyles and the 100-yard butterfly. Piscetta also led off for the 800-yard freestyle relay team that fell just 0.03 seconds shy of first place. She was joined by junior Sarah Houlihan (West Springfield, MA/West Springfield), sophomore Stephany Perkins (Monmouth, ME/Monmouth Academy) and freshman Sarah Miller (Madison, NJ/Madison).

Sophomore Nicole Zais (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) played a role in two triumphs, including winning the 100-yard breaststroke and swimming the second leg of the victorious 400-yard medley relay. Siding with Zais on the relay were junior Iris Meehan (Bar Harbor, ME/Mount Desert Island), sophomore Samantha Farrell (Reading, MA/Reading Memorial) and first-year Taryn Brosnan (Westford, MA/Academy of Notre Dame).

Rounding out the event wins were Meehan in the 100-yard backstroke and Perkins during the 200-yard breast race. Wheaton athletes ended up taking the top two spots in the 100 back, as senior Caitlin Glover (Durham, NH/Berwick Academy) came within 0.45 seconds of Meehan.

Sophomore Corey Best (Brentwood, TN/Ravenwood) turned in all-around solid meet for the men, touching the wall first in the 100-yard butterfly, tying for the top spot in the 200-yard fly and placing second behind classmate Eddie Gillie (Haverhill, MA/Saint John's Prep) in the 400-yard individual medley.

Freshman Cole Larson-Whittaker (Penobscot, ME/George Stevens Academy) captured the Blue and White's fourth top time, as he bested the competition in the 1,000-yard freestyle race. During the 100-yard butterfly, sophomore Zach Fichman-Klein (North Attleboro, MA/North Attleboro) recorded a runner-up mark to Best.

The Wheaton teams continue their four-meet homestand on Wednesday against non-conference foe Brandeis University at 6:30 p.m.