The University of New Hampshire women’s swimming and diving team defeated Binghamton University on the road Saturday afternoon, 185-108. Sophomore Jessica Harper (Easthampton, Mass.) took two gold medals, including a pool record in the 400 individual medley. Senior Bettina Caspersen (Lyngby, Denmark) and sophomore Liza Baykova (Moscow, Russia) each recorded two individual first-place finishes and a team victory.
Harper’s record came as she raced through the water to a time of four minutes, 28.60 seconds in the 17th event of the day.
In the first event of the meet, the 200-yard medley relay team of Linnea Lemerise (Brentwood, N.H.), Vivienne El-Sibay (Munich, Germany), Sarah Broderick (Haverhill, Mass.) and Caspersen swam to gold with a time of one minute, 50.25 seconds, defeating the three Bearcat relay teams in the race. The Wildcats remained ahead of Binghamton with a one-two finish in the next event, the 1000-yard freestyle. Brittany Moffatt (Cedar Falls, Iowa) touched the wall first with a time of 10:37.85 while Bridget Miller (Longmeadow, Mass.) was behind her with a time of 10:54.57.
The Wildcats continued to push ahead in the third event with Harper earning her first gold medal of the day. She swam the 200-yard freestyle to a time of 1:53.99 with her fastest 50-yards coming in her first leg (26.32). Moffatt tagged the wall in the same event with a time of 1:57.23. In the fourth event, Lemerise broke the one-minute barrier in the 100-yard backstroke as she came in at 59.29 seconds.
Caspersen tagged the wall in first place again, this time in the 100-yard breaststroke, with a time of 1:07.05. Sarah Olver (Durham, N.H.) came in second place with a result of 1:09.06. In the 200 fly, El-Sibay earned victory with a time of 2:07.61 while Brittany Driscoll (Wallingford, Conn.) came in second with a time of 2:11.30.
Baykova blazed through the water in the 50-yard free, coming at 24.13 seconds.
Hailee Miller (Milton, Mass.) accrued a score of 228.07 points in the one-meter dive to take first place and 229.26 points in the three-meter dive, also giving her gold. Erin Cullather (Highland Park, Ill.) earned second place in the one-meter dive (209.70) and in the three-meter dive (176.17).
Baykova tagged the wall first in the 100-yard free as she timed in at 51.69 seconds. Broderick was hot on her heels as she took second with a time of 55.18. Harper touched the wall first in the 200-yard backstroke as she came in with a time of 2:06.82. Lemerise came in under one second later with a time of 2:07.47. Caspersen claimed victory in the 200-yard breast as she clocked in at 2:24.13. Olver took silver with a time of 2:25.45.
In the 500-yard freestyle, Moffatt paced her way to victory with a time of 5:08.95. Driscoll earned silver in the event with a result of 5:19.66. The Wildcats capped off the meet with a victory in the 200-yard freestyle relay, the quartet of Maddie Murphy (Liverpool, N.Y.), Baykova, Driscoll and El-Sibay raced to a first place result with a time of 1:41.20.
The Wildcats are home on Friday, Jan. 29 as they host boarder rival University of Maine. The meet is set for 5 p.m. at Swasey Pool.
