Wheaton Swimming and Diving Remain on Road at WPI's New England Invitational

The Wheaton College men's and women's swimming & diving teams competed on the road for the third time in as many weekends Saturday afternoon, when the Lyons traveled to fellow New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) school Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) for the New England Invitational at the new Sports & Recreation Center pool. 
  
During the non-scoring meet, sophomore Cara Morris (Irvington, N.Y./Irvington) and freshman Courtney Leach (Gilford, N.H./Gilford) took second and fourth, respectively, in the 50-yard butterfly event with times of 28.11 and 28.16. 
  
Wheaton also turned in a pair of third-place marks in relays during the 100-yard individual medley and 200-yard freestyle events.  Leach and Morris competed on both, joining seniors Dana Auger (Milford, Mass./Milford) and Kirstie Parkinson (Singapore, Singapore/Singapore American School) on the 100 IM relay (53.55) and senior Elle Van Cott (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) and freshman Helen Grant (Suffield, Conn./Loomis Chaffee School) during the 200 free relay (1:44.49). 
  
Leach placed fourth in the 50 free in 26.08, Grant, Van Cott and freshmen Kelsey Meyer (Malvern, Pa./Conestoga) andMikaela Puth (Rumson, N.J./Canterbury School) did the same during the 100 IM relay in 55.22 and Grant, Morris, Parkinson and Van Cott took fourth in the 200 medley relay in 1:59.32. 
  
A pair of fifth-place relays featured Auger, Leach, Meyer and Puth in the 200 medley (1:59.97) as well as Grant, Leach, Morris and Van Cott during the 400 free (3:51.68).  Freshman Sydney Gillis (Walpole, Mass./Walpole) notched two sixth-place finishes off the one- and three-meter diving boards, posting 175.50 points in the one-meter event and 130.05 during the three-meter competition. 
  
On the men's side, junior Emerson Jenkins (Kansas City, Mo./Pembroke Hill School) had a hand in three runner-up placements, including in the 50 free in 22.49, the 100 free in 49.45 and the 100 free relay in 40.64 alongside senior Sam Neill (Ludlow, Mass./Belchertown), sophomore Nick Fredette (Stoneham, Mass./Stoneham) and freshman Daniel Spencer (North Yarmouth, Maine/Greely). 
  
Neill placed third in the 50 free with a time of 22.96, while Spencer registered the same result during the 100 free in 50.08. Sophomore Richard Jenkins (Bow, N.H./Bow) rounded out Wheaton's top-five individual finishes with a fourth-place mark in the 100 backstroke in 57.09. 
  
Emerson Jenkins, Neill, Spencer and freshman Jeremy Zak (Clifton, N.J./Montclair Kimberley Academy) sided to place fourth in the 200 free relay (1:29.98), as did both Jenkins swimmers, Neill and Spencer in the 400 free relay (3:21.23). Richard Jenkins, Neill, Spencer and sophomore Cory Hedges (Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) came in fifth during the 200 medley relay (1:44.57). 
  
Wheaton finishes its road trip next Saturday at conference school United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., at noon.