BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Women's Swimming and Diving team is anxiously waiting for their season to begin on Saturday. Last season the team went 7-3 overall and finished in fourth place overall at the NEISDA Championships. With seven home meets scheduled including the home opener this weekend the team is ready to get the season rolling.
Returning is a small group of seniors that will be leading the way for the Hawks. Brigid Houlihan (Nahant, Mass.) is a Freestyle swimmer with experience at the NEISDA where she placed sixth in the 1650-yd freestyle. At the University of New England she got the victory in both the 500-yd and 1000-yd Freestyle events. Classmate Laura Colley (Barrington, R.I.) will be heading into her final year after she placed eighth at the NEISDA Championships in the 200-yd Butterfly. Rounding out the Senior class are Casey Meagher (Billerica, Mass.) and Ashley Hyatt (Glastonbury, Conn.) who look to have an impact in their last season.
The Junior class is also a very small group in volume with just five members. Leading the group is Caitlin O'Connor (Wallingford, Conn.) who took sixth place at the NEISDA Championships in the 200-yd Butterfly, and was a member of the fifth place 800-yd Freestyle Relay team. She also tied an RWU record in the 100-yd Freestyle at Gordon, and broke a school record in the 200-yd Butterfly. She is joined by classmate Marissa Carr (Arlington, Mass.) who placed eighth in the 50-yd Freestyle at the TCCC Invitational last season. Also looking to have an impact this year are Lauren Gosnell (Norwell, Mass.), Elise Guay (Peabody, Mass.), and Emily Shaw (Monterey, Mass.).
Most of the Sophomore class has a year of experience under their belts with some newcomers who look to gain strength and experience as they begin their second season as Hawks. Ursula Nickerson (Torrington, Conn.) was a standout as a freshman, as she is the school's record-holder in the 100-yd Breaststroke, the 200-yd Breaststroke, and a member of the 200-yd Medley Relay team and the 400-yd Medley Relay team, both of whom hold school records. Also with experience last season, Lauren Marchese (Hillsborough, N.J.) took home 14th in the 100-yd Individual Medley. Olivia Matthes (West Islip, N.Y.) posted an eighth place finish at UMass-Dartmouth and teammate Jacqui Cohen (Commack, N.Y.) earned a win at Colby-Sawyer in the 50-yd Butterfly. Colleen Hamilton (Foxboro, Mass.) returns for her second season and is joined by Kelly Meacham (Southington, Conn.) and Sarah Mamula (Madison, Conn.) who are both in their first year of competition.
The Hawks look to bring in some fresh faces to the pool and replace the nine seniors which graduated this past May. Looking to get off to a good start in their collegiate swimming and diving careers are Lindsey Cruff (Newington, Conn.), Andrea Dewitt (Nashua, N.H.), Laura Folsom (Simsbury, Conn.), Olivia Hilton (Vernon, Conn.), Ashley Johnson, Ashley Kichline (Souderton, Pa.), Melly Marrington (Farmington, Conn.), Celine Rivera, Marrisa Soucy (Mont Vernon, N.H.), and Joanna Tchobanova (Brewster, N.Y.).
Head Coach Julie O'Brien returns as the only Swimming and Diving Coach the Hawks have had as she has been with the program since the beginning. She is joined by Assistant Coach Michelle Kellerman who is in her fifth season of coaching, as well as Diving Coach Vito Deluca who is in his second season with the team.
Coach O'Brien expects a great deal of effort out of both the veterans and the newcomers as they look to improve on last year's results. She expects to have a very strong team, saying, “We have a very deep team so we think we will be quite successful because of that. We also have a very talented freshman class that will support us as we aim to place higher at the New England Championships.”
The Women's Swimming and Diving team looks to begin their regular season with a win on Saturday as they host Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at 1:00 p.m.
