Arlington, Va. – The first win of the 2013-14 season for the St. Mary's College of Maryland women's swim team came down to the wire as the Seahawks eked out a 103-101 win over Marymount University Saturday afternoon in the Capital Athletic Conference opener for both sides.
St. Mary's (1-1, 1-0 CAC) pulled out the exciting finish with a sweep of the 500 freestyle and a 1-2-4 finish in the 100 breaststroke. Juniors Elaina Kohles (Bel Air, Md./John Carroll) and Brooke Raab (Parkton, Md./Hereford) captured the Seahawks' four event wins.
Kohles started the meet by leading a sweep of the 1000 freestyle as she claimed gold in 11:23.12 followed by sophomore Zoe McIlmail (Frederick, Md./Urbana) in second (11:41.75) and senior Hanna Rizkallah (Frederick, Md./Urbana) in third (11:48.04).
The second win for Kohles came in the sweep of the 500 freestyle as she touched the wall first in 5:34.18. Senior captain Erin O'Connor (Potomac, Md./Winston Churchill) was next in 5:36.78 followed by senior Claire Huckenpoehler (Towson, Md./Towson) in third in 5:59.88.
Raab collected her first gold medal of the day in the 200 individual medley as she posted a winning time of 2:19.31 while Kohles came in second in 2:20.62. Raab then posted a first-place finish in the 100 breaststroke followed by senior captain Stefania D'Ambrosio (Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase) in second and sophomore Katie Andersen (Clarksville, Md./River Hill) in fourth, allowing St. Mary's edge Marymount for the win.
Sophomore Cara Machlin (Rockville, Md./Walter Johnson) tied with Raab for second in the 100 butterfly as both touched the wall in 1:02.87. Machlin tallied a second-place finish in the 200 freestyle (2:04.51) as well.
Sophomore Karlie Straight (Ocean City, Md./Stephen Decatur), O'Connor, Machlin, and D'Ambrosio helped the Seahawks to a second-place finish in the 200 medley relay (1:58.15). Straight also picked up a second-place finish in the 100 backstroke in 1:05.77.
Rizkallah, first-year Samantha Liming (Silver Spring, Md./John F. Kennedy), junior Kelsey Abernathy (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial), and Huckenpoehler posted a time of 1:53.93 for second place in the 200 freestyle relay.
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