SWEET BRIAR, Va. — It came down to the final event of the afternoon at the Prothro Natatorium as the Sweet Briar swim team won its final relay to earn dual victories over Gallaudet and Guilford on Saturday.
Sweet Briar took a 119-119 tie with Guilford into the final relay, but finished with a 130-125 victory over the Quakers and a 166-80 win over the Bison.
Saturday's competition got underway with the Vixens finishing second in the 200-medley relay with a time of 2:49.11. The Vixens' opening relay was comprised of sophomore Lauren Jones () and juniors Nora Florio (Lynchburg, Va.), Dharma Kear (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Theresa Carriveau (West Chicago, Ill.).
The first individual event of the day finished with Kear winning by over a minute in the 800-meter freestyle. Kear touched the wall with a time of 12:20.92, while Florio finished third with a personal best time of 13:44.78.
First-year Peyton Murphy (Norfolk, Va.) earned a victory in the 200-meter freestyle, finishing with a time of 2:33.52. Jones touched third with a 3:05.14 finish.
Event four finished with first-year Leilani Williams (Amherst, Va.) in second at 1:24.95 and sophomore Taylor Shaw (Virginia Beach, Va.) in sixth at 2:04.00.
First-year Anne Rucker (Midlothian, Va.) won the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:29.41, while Florio was sixth with a personal best of 1:57.67.
Murphy won by over 30 seconds in the 200-meter butterfly, touching the final wall with a time of 2:57.42.
The Vixens posted three personal-best marks in the 50-meter freestyle, led by first-year Elizabeth Sanford (Charlotte, N.C.) who finished second with a personal best time of 32.49. Rucker's personal best time of 33.30 came in a third-place effort, while Carriveau was fourth with a personal best time of 33.99. Shaw finished eighth with a time of 44.62.
Williams edged Guilford's Susan Dillinger with a time of 1:14.10 to win the 100-meter freestyle, while Jones was fourth with a time of 1:25.29.
Rucker and Shaw finished first and seventh, respectively, in the 200-meter backstroke. Rucker finished with a time of 2:56.56, while Shaw finished at 4:30.43.
Sanford was third in the 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 3:55.77 ahead of Florio's personal best 4:10.83, which placed the junior in fifth.
The Vixens finished second and third in the 400-meter freestyle, with Kear in second at 5:59.09 and Jones in third at 6:33.25.
The 100-meter butterfly saw Williams touch first with a time of 1:26.01, while Sanford finished fifth at 1:38.30.
The final individual event of the day saw a one-two finish from the Vixens, led by a 2:49.11 winning time by Murphy. Kear finished second with a 3:05.80 swim.
Entering the final relay event, tied 119-119 with Guilford, Sweet Briar could only earn a dual victory with a 200-meter freestyle relay victory as the Quakers entered two relay squads into the final event.
The Vixens got what they needed as the squad of Rucker, Sanford, Williams and Murphy cruised to victory by over 20 seconds with a time of 2:11.18.
Rucker's opening leg of 30.07, was a personal best 50-meter freestyle time for the first-year.
Sweet Briar's 'B' relay swam as an exhibition but posted the second-fastest time in the event. The second Sweet Briar relay comprised of Kear, Carriveau, Florio and Shaw finished at 2:33.93.
Sweet Briar will next compete on January 17 at Ferrum, in a double-dual featuring the Panthers, Vixens and Hollins.
