Bulldogs lose dog fight, 125-92

BOSTON, Mass. – Facing Northeastern University for the first time in program history, the Bryant University women's swimming team battled but fell short, dropping a 125-92 decision to the Huskies Wednesday evening at the Barletta Natatorium.

The Bulldogs (1-2) earned five first-place finishes in the meet, including a pair of victories from junior Casey Ostrander (Yarmouthport, Mass.) in the 50 and 100 free events. Coming off a victory in the 50 free last Sunday at Harvard, Ostrander distanced herself from the pack with a time of 24.75 in the 50 and 53.91 in the 100.

Bryant also received outstanding performances from junior Molly Smith (Belmont, Mass.), sophomore Taylor DeBever (Denver, Colo.) and freshmen Mara Valenzuela (Bridgewater, N.J.) and Caitlin Hanahoe (Prairie, Minn.). In one of the most exciting events of the meet, Smith scored a come-from-behind victory in the 200 breast by 22 hundredths of a second. Smith was swimming the wake of two Huskies for the first 100 yards of the event, but came to life over the final two lengths, catching and surpassing both swimmers in the final 40 yards. She also added a third-place finish in the 200 fly and fourth-place finish in the 400 IM.

DeBever continued her strong start to the year, winning the 200 free and taking third in the 200 back. The Black and Gold's two most successful freshmen so far this season, Valenzuela and Hanahoe each registered top-three finishes against the Huskies. Valenzuela was right on Ostrander's heels in the 50 free, finishing third with a time of 25.46, and Hanahoe out-touched a Husky by four hundredths of a second to earn third place in the 500 free.

Ostrander, Valenzuela, DeBever and senior Amy D'Olympia (Mattapoisett, Mass.) combined to bring home a first-place finish in the 200 free relay. The quartet finished with a time of 1:39.73, nearly four seconds quicker than the next team. Also, competing in her second meet, freshman Kailey Frye (Lakeville, Mass.) took home fourth place in the one meter dive, finishing with 142.40 points.

The Bulldogs are back in action this Saturday, Nov. 5, when they travel to Durham, N.H., to compete in a tri-meet with host University of New Hampshire and Northeast Conference foe Central Connecticut State University. The meet is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m.