Zais leads women, divers pace men in dual losses to national power MIT

NORTON, Mass. - Facing national power Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for the third time this season, the Wheaton College men's and women's swimming & diving teams dropped a pair of decisions to the fellow New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) school on Thursday night in Balfour Natatorium.

The Lyon men fell to 0-6 with a 219-78 setback, while the women suffered a 205-94 loss in slipping to 3-3.

Senior Nicole Zais (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) had a hand in three event wins, sweeping the 100- and 200-yard breaststrokes with times of 1:08.34 and 2:30.07, respectively, while joining classmates Stephany Perkins (Monmouth, Maine/Monmouth Academy) and Dania Piscetta (Belmont, N.H./Belmont) and freshman Adrianne Madden (Falmouth, Maine/Falmouth) on the victorious 400-yard freestyle relay team.  The quartet finished in 3:41.04.

Madden placed second in the 50-yard free and 100-yard backstroke races.  She also sided with Piscetta, Zais and junior Taryn Brosnan (Westford, Mass./Academy of Notre Dame) on the runner-up 200-yard medley relay squad.  Brosnan placed second in the 200-yard butterfly, while Piscetta took runner-up honors during the 100-yard free.

For the men, senior Jonathan Gold (West Harrison, N.Y./Fordham Prep) and freshmen Charlie Maier (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) and Taylor Wright-Sanson (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs) went 1-2-3 in both the one- and three-meter diving events.

Maier captured the top mark off the one-meter springboard with 228.75 points and was followed by Gold and Wright-Sanson, respectively, while Gold notched 209.02 points to lead the three-meter pack.  Maier placed second in the competition and Wright-Sanson third.

Other individual third-place finishes came from senior Corey Best (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood) in the 200-yard butterfly, classmate Zach Fichman-Klein (North Attleboro, Mass./North Attleboro) in the 100-yard breaststroke and freshman Sam Jackson (Darien, Conn./Darien) in the 100-yard fly.

Seniors Sam Dean-Lee (Rocky Hill, Conn./Xavier) and Ben Sabol (Saint Petersburg, Fla./Shorecrest Prep), sophomore Sam Neill (Ludlow, Mass./Belchertown) and freshman Emerson Jenkins (Kansas City, Mo./Pembroke Hill School) placed third in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

The teams travel to the western side of the state on Saturday, January 14, for a meet at NEWMAC school Mount Holyoke College at 3:00 p.m.  The Lyon men will face league foe Clark University in South Hadley, while the women will take on both the hosts and Cougars.