Over half of swimming and diving team records personal records at RIT Invitational

Katherine Upton had personal-best scores in 1-meter and 3-meter diving at the RIT Invitational Dec. 6-7, 2025. (RJB Sports file photo)

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Nine of the 16 student-athletes competing for the Mount Holyoke swimming and diving team recorded a lifetime best time over the two days of the RIT Invitational, which concluded Saturday, in what head coach Dave Allen called the Lyons' best meet of the season thus far.

"Overall, we had a great meet with many personal bests and lots of seasons bests," Allen said.

Mount Holyoke scored 271.5 points, the sixth most among seven teams. Skidmore finished first, followed by RIT, Nazareth, Clarkson, St. Lawrence, Mount Holyoke and Jamestown Community College.

"I'm so proud of the way we competed at the meet," said Allen. "We focused on what we could control and had the best meet of the season so far."

Point-scoring performances by the Lyons included:

First-year Maya Oakes (Pine Bush, N.Y.) placed eighth out of 32 swimmers in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:03.31. Oakes also placed 10th out of 24 in the 200 back (2:20.10), 12th out of 36 in the 500 freestyle in a PR time of 5:39.27, and 13th out of 30 in the 200 freestyle, in a PR time of 2:07.80.
Sophomore Katherine Upton (Cambridge, Mass.) placed seventh out of 16 divers on the 1-meter board with 294.30 points, and seventh out of 13 divers at 3 meters, with 291.35 points -- both scores new career-best scores.
Junior Isabel Dunn (Harbor Springs, Mich.) placed fourth in the 200-yard butterfly (2:32.21), and 10th in the 400 IM (5:15.41).
First-year Evelyn Rousseau (Hudsonville, Mich.) placed ninth out of 15 in the 1,650 freestyle, in a PR time of 20:28.29.
First-year Katie Thomason (Alexandria, Va.) placed 11th in the 400 individual medley (5:17.26) and 16th in the 200 free (2:11.20), and 15th in the 200 breaststroke (2:47.13), scoring points in all three events for the Lyons.
First-year Ellie Lewis (Spencer, Ind.) placed 10th in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:42.37. Lewis also tied for 11th place among 19 swimmers in the 100 breaststroke, with a time of 1:16.33.
Junior Madeline Hood (The Colony, Texas) placed 15th in the 100 breast, (1:18.58) and first-year Carol Fang (Shanghai, China) placed 16th (1:21.62). Hood also placed 12th in the 200 breast (2:44.36).
First-year Naomi Long (Omaha, Neb.) placed 13th out of 32 swimmers in the 100 butterfly in a PR time of 1:09.00. She was also seventh in the 200 fly (2:48.58).

Additional PR's recorded by the Lyons included:

Junior Nat Rockwell (Orwell, Vt.) in the 100 fly (1:10.32).
Junior Audrey Stuckert (Dallas, Texas) in the 50 breast (38.14).
Rousseau in the 200 Free (2:10.95) and 100 Free (1:00.11).
First-year Adah Lambeck (Madison, Wis.) in the 50 freestyle (29.74) and the 100 freestyle (1:04.44).
Fang in the 50 free (27.74), 100 free (1:01.91), and 100 back (1:11.91).
Thomason in the 500 freestyle (5:49.18).

The Lyons will return to competition on Jan. 9 as they host two NEWMAC rivals in Wheaton (Mass.) and Clark University.