Men's (0-3) and Women's (3-0) Swimming & Diving Kick Off 2009-10 Seasons

The Wheaton College men's and women's swimming & diving teams kicked off their 2009-10 seasons last week, splitting at Roger Williams University on Wednesday before hosting a double-dual meet on Saturday. The Lyon women downed the Hawks, 175.5-121.5, while the men suffered a 192-104 setback. Wheaton's women then downed Brandeis University, 179-107 and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), 207-86 in their home opener, while the men suffered a 173-109 loss to the Judges and a 169-118 defeat at the hands of the Engineers.

Against Roger Williams, junior Dania Piscetta (Belmont, NH/Belmont) and sophomore Julia Wright (Pomfret, VT/Northfield Mount Hermon School) each won a pair of events to lead the women to 11 victories. Piscetta won the 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard individual medley, while Wright captured the one- and three-meter diving events. Senior Sarah Houlihan (West Springfield, MA/West Springfield) was victorious in the 500-yard freestyle, junior Nicole Zais (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) took first in the 200-yard breaststroke, while sophomores Taryn Brosnan (Westford, MA/Academy of Notre Dame) and Sarah Miller (Madison, NJ/Madison) won the 200-yard butterfly and free, respectively. Freshman Caroline Isaacs (San Jose, CA/Archbishop Mitty) captured the 1,000 free, and classmate Kirstie Parkinson (Singapore, Singapore/Singapore American School) took the 50 breast. The 200 free relay team, comprised of juniors Kathleen Dwyer (Barrington, RI/Barrington) and Samantha Farrell (Reading, MA/Reading Memorial) and freshmen Dana Auger (Milford, MA/Milford) and Julia Kusiak Carey (Shawmut, ME/Lawrence), also won.

On the men's side, junior Sam Dean-Lee (Rocky Hill, CT/Xavier) won the 200-yard freestyle, classmate Zach Fichman-Klein (North Attleboro, MA/North Attleboro) was victorious in the 50-yard butterfly, and sophomore Charles Western (Syracuse, NY/Nottingham) took first in the 200 fly.

Versus Brandeis and WPI, Piscetta and Zais helped the Blue and White capture 13 of the meet's 16 events, as Piscetta won the 100- and 200-yard freestyles and the 200-yard individual medley, while Zais took first in the 100- and 200-yard breaststrokes. Piscetta and Zais joined Brosnan and senior Iris Meehan (Bar Harbor, ME/Mount Desert Island) to capture the 200-yard medley relay victory. Zais sided with Farrell, Miller and senior Aurelie Marcotte (Hampden, MA/Minnechaug Regional) on the winning 400 free relay. Brosnan won the 100-yard butterfly to round out a pair of victories, Houlihan won the 500 and 1,000 frees, and Wright bested the one- and three-meter dive fields. Auger won the 50 free.

For the men, junior Jonathan Gold (West Harrison, NY/Fordham Prep) won the one- and three-meter dives. Classmate Corey Best (Brentwood, TN/Ravenwood) was the runner up during the 200-yard breaststroke, and sophomore Devon Best (Brentwood, TN/Ravenwood) took second in the 200-yard backstroke. The Lyons' 200-yard medley relay quartet notched a runner-up showing, as Dean-Lee, Fichman-Klein, junior Ben Sabol (Saint Petersburg, FL/Shorecrest Prep) and freshman Sam Neill (Ludlow, MA/Belchertown) combined on the performance.