The women's swimming and diving team faced its first tough competition of the season Friday, falling to Harvard 190-107. The Bears, who hosted the meet, won two of the day's 16 events.
"I thought overall there were some good performances in every event," said co-captain Ashley Wallace '07. "But it's a tough part of our season. We're training really hard right now."
Brown's first win of the day was in the 50-yard freestyle. Sarah Goodman '09 edged out two Crimson swimmers with a time of 25.15 to take the event. Goodman said her time wasn't "incredible," but she was satisfied considering how early it is in the season. "In general, I'm happy with where I am," she said.
The Bears' other victory was in the meet's concluding event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. Emily Brush '07, Wallace, Julia Lippe-Klein '07 and Lindsay McKenna '07 finished in 3:53.77.
Though Brown did not win any other events, the squad brought in several top-three finishes. Becky Kowalsky '07 placed second in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:56.53. In the 100-yard backstroke, Brush clocked in at 1:00.19 and finished second. She followed this performance with another second-place finish, recording a time of 2:09.72 in the 200-yard backstroke.
Wallace completed the 200-yard butterfly in 2:08.01 to nab a second-place finish of her own, while teammate Meredith Cocco '07 placed third in the event with a time of 2:10.41. Later in the day, Cocco and Wallace again finished back-to-back in the 100-yard butterfly. Cocco placed second with a time of 59.83, and Wallace placed third with a time of 59.91.
In the 200-yard medley relay, Brush, Alexandra Wyatt '08, Cocco and Susannah Ford '10 took third place, clocking in at 1:50.32. Wyatt also placed third in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:08.21. In the 1,000-yard freestyle, Dillon Delaney '08 finished in 10:22.48 for third place.
The day's final individual event brought in one more third-place finish for the Bears, as Lauren Harlow '07 completed the 200-yard individual medley in 2:14.46.
The Bears also had strong results in diving. Dana Meadow '07 recorded a score of 255.22 points to take third place in the 1-meter dive. In the 3-meter dive, Jessica Williams '09 scored 240.97 for second place, while Meadow scored 240.00 for third place.
The Bears finished the day more than 80 points short of the Crimson, a result that is "never fun," according to Goodman. But the squad had expected Harvard to pose some difficult competition.
"Harvard is one of the best teams in the Ivy League," Wallace said. "They have nationally ranked swimmers. They're a very good team."
The meet was especially challenging for the Bears because they had just finished a week of demanding practices. "We kind of came off a rough week of training," Goodman said. "But everyone did their best to step up."
"We're just trying to do the best we can while working really hard," Wallace said.
The Bears will head to Hanover this weekend for a showdown with Dartmouth on Saturday. "We'll focus on staying on top of everything," Goodman said. "It's really important not to lose close races."
According to Goodman, the squad expects the upcoming competition to be less challenging than Friday's meet against Harvard. Last season, Dartmouth finished seventh in the Ivy League - one notch above Cornell, whom the Bears already dismantled in their opening meet of the season. Brown was ranked third in the Ivy League last season.
