Bonnies defeat Niagara, grab second win in two days :: Women swimmers and divers flawless for second straight meet

Feb. 2, 2008

LEWISTON, N.Y. - For the second straight contest, the Bona women swept all swimming and diving events en route to a 211-77 win against host Niagara Saturday afternoon.

The Bonnies' victory was fueled by senior Anneli Johnson's team-best three wins. Johnson dominated the 100-yard breaststroke (1:05.28), 200-yard breaststroke (2:21.84) and 200-yard IM (2:15.06).

Sophomore Allison Smith, sophomore Taylor Merena and senior Jessica Hober helped continue the women's winning streak by recording two wins each. In the 1,000 yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle, Smith swam to first with times of 10:40.07 and 5:10.37, respectively. Merena arguably had her best pool performance of the year, touching first in the 200-yard butterfly (2:11.21) and 100-yard butterfly (1:00.46).

In the 50-yard freestyle, Hober tied with senior Meghan King for first place with a time of 25.48. Later, Hober clinched gold in the 100-yard freestyle, finishing with a time of 55.09.

Single-winners on the day included senior Taryn Ahern, freshman Morgan Ribar, and freshman Kathryne Valentine. Ahern posted the team's second-fastest time this season in the 200-yard freestyle (1:56.92), while Ribar swam a personal best time of 1:01.33 in the 100-yard backstroke. Valentine paced the competition in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:08.13, the team's second-best time in that event this year.

The women's relay teams have been key components of the women's success in 2007-2008. On Saturday, neither the 200-yard medley relay team nor the 200-yard freestyle relay squad disappointed. Valentine, Johnson, King and junior Allison Whalen grabbed gold in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:49.50. In the 200-yard freestyle relay, Ahern, King, Smith and Hober clocked in at 1:40.31, good enough for first.

On the boards, sophomore Gina Hendrickson led the women divers with wins in both the three-meter and one-meter dive. Hendrickson tallied 190.50 first-place points in the one-meter dive, the team's best score of the season. In the three-meter event, Hendrickson placed in the top spot with 194.63 points.

By beating the Purple Eagles, the women's swimming and diving team improves to 8-2 (2-0).

The women's swimming and diving team have one more meet remaining against the University of Buffalo on Wednesday, Feb. 6 at 6 p.m. inside the Reilly Center. On Feb. 20-23, the women will travel to the Burt Flickinger Athletic Center to compete in the 2007-2008 Atlantic 10 Swimming and Diving Championships.