Springfield, Mass. (October 12, 2024) – The Golden Bears opened their season at home against Rhode Island College on Saturday. The team hosted their Breast Cancer Awareness Match during today's competition. The Golden Bears would win ten of the fourteen races in the meet and won the meet by a final score of 156 to 96.

Scores:

Western New England: 156

Rhode Island College: 96

How it Happened:

The meet began with the 200-yard Medley Relay. The Golden Bears saw their team of Julia Remiszewski, Amanda Robinson, Olivia Emanuele, and Alexa Adams take first place with a time of 2:09.70. Sofia Piantedosi swam the 1000-yard Freestyle race for Piantedosi's first career individual race as a Golden Bear. Piantedosi would get a first career win as a Golden Bear in that race, as well, with a time of 15:27.33. The next race was the 200-yard Freestyle. Alexa Adams and Amanda Pillard finished in second and third place with times of 2:28.81 and 2:44.10, respectively. Event #4 was the 50-yard Backstroke. Julia Remiszewski won that race with a time of 33.19. Giada Caruso would swim this race as Caruso's first career individual race as a Golden Bear. Caruso finished in third with a time of 37:32. Then, the Golden Bears got more points through Amanda Robinson, Christina Schmidt, and Gianna Calabrese, who got second, third, and fourth, respectively, in the 50-yard Breaststroke. Robinson finished with a time of 38.93, Schmidt finished with a time of 42.08 in Schmidt's first career individual race as a Golden Bear, and Calabrese finished with a time of 42.66.

The 100-yard Butterfly was the next event. Olivia Emanuele won the race for WNE with a time of 1:09.91. Vicky Stepien finished in third place with a time of 1:22.69. That was Stepien's first race as a Golden Bear as well. The 50-yard Freestyle saw the Golden Bears place first, second, and third. Caitlin Guntly finished first with a time of 26.30. Samantha D'Avignon finished next with a time of 30.27 in D'Avignon's first career individual race as a Golden Bear. Then, Alexa Adams finished with a time of 30.48. Amanda Pillard raced the 50-yard Freestyle, finishing with a time of 33.23. The 100-yard Freestyle was the following event. Emanuele won the event with a time of 1:03.91. D'Avignon got third place with a time of 1:11.99. Schmidt was fourth with a time of 1:16.39. Event #10 saw Remiszewski win the 100-yard Backstroke with a time of 1:13.55. Caruso finished third in that event with a time of 1:21.88. Next, Calabrese would finish second in the 100-yard Breaststroke with a time of 1:34.72. The 500-yard Freestyle was the following event. Guntly earned the win with a time of 5:53.36. Piantedosi finished next with a time of 7:41.74, and Pillard finished with a time of 7:42.84.

The 50-yard Butterfly was the next event. Guntly won that event, as well. Guntly finished with a final time of 29.30. Stepien and Schmidt finished in third and fourth place, respectively. Stepien finished with a time of 32.77, and Schmidt finished with a time of 41.98. The final individual event was the 100-yard IM. Robinson got second with a time of 1:14.57. Caruso got third place with a time of 1:24.96. The final race of the afternoon was the 200-yard Freestyle Relay. The Golden Bears had two relay teams swim, and they finished first and second. The winning team was the team of Samantha D'Avignon, Olivia Emanuele, Caitlin Guntly, and Alexa Adams. They finished with a time of 1:56.37. The Golden Bears earned 156 points and won their first meet of the season.

Coach's Corner

Head coach Corey Lomas was asked what Lomas attributes to today's win. "Our win was all about controlling our attitudes and not giving up whether it was first, second or third place finishes. Sweeping the 50 freestyle was a huge moment for us," Lomas stated. "Caitlin Guntly and Sofia Piantedosi were integral to our success with event wins and unbelievable hard work."

Senior captain Caitlin Guntly was asked for a comment on Guntly's and the team's performance today in the win. "The team has become so strong and united in such a short time with so many new teammates in our family, and it was really amazing to see the payoff of all the hard work that we've been putting in the past few weeks. I am super excited to see the team continue to grow throughout the rest of the season," Guntly answered.

Up Next:

WNE will return to the pool next Friday, October 18, 2024, when they travel to West Hartford, Connecticut, for the Blue Jay Pentathlon at 5:00 PM.