Schwend Lifts Women's Swimming To Second At SUNY Delhi

DELHI, N.Y. – Paced by two first place finishes by freshman Kaitlyn Schwend (San Marcos, Calif.), the Wells College women's swimming team posted a second place finish amongst seven competing schools at the SUNY Delhi Fall Invitational on Saturday. The Express finished with 183 total points, falling only 11 points shy of tying for first place in the event.

Junior Stephanie Todd (Norwich, N.Y.) captured her team's first 13 points, placing second overall in the 200 Yard Freestyle with a time of 2:23.50. Schwend followed in the next event, posting a time of 29.05 in the 50 Yard Freestyle to lead nine other competitors. Teammate Rachel Elliker (Owego, N.Y.) finished in second place for Wells, finishing with a time of 30.25 to earn 16 and 13 points, respectively.

Schwend was at it again in the 100 Yard Butterfly, picking up a 10 second victory over the second place finisher from Herkimer with a time of 1:07.04. She eclipsed her personal best time of 1:07.59, set earlier in the season against Utica and Alfred State, and passed Susan Randolph '84 to capture the third-best time in school history with her strong finish.

In her third event of the day, Schwend narrowly missed a first place finish in the 100 Yard Backstroke with a time of 1:13.86 but managed to place second in the 12 swimmer field. After a second place finish in the 100 Yard Freestyle event (1:06.29), Todd finished the 500 Yard Freestyle event in first place (6:25.94) while sophomore Gina Ross-Detro (Geneva, N.Y.) placed second with a time of 6:34.55.

The Wells foursome of Elliker, Ross-Detro, Todd and Schwend registered a time of 2:00.75 in the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay, securing 32 points with a first place finish in the event to round out the day's scoring.

Wells returns to action Saturday, Dec. 6 as they face-off against Gallaudet and SUNY Cobleskill at the latter's campus. The triangular meet will kick off promptly at 1 p.m.