Cougars Open Season With Strong Showing Against Babson

Worcester, Mass. – Clark University's Gabriela Jijon-Nemalceff (Quito, Ecuador) and Babson College's Issac Breen-Franklin (Severna Park, Md.) each had impressive individual showings as the Cougar women won 136-101 and the Beaver men topped Clark 142-89 in a dual meet held on Saturday at the Kneller Athletic Center Pool.

For Clark on the women's side Jijon-Nemalceff touched the wall first in both the 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard freestyle and was also a part of the victorious 200-yard medley relay.

Joining her as a multiple event winner for Clark was Maura Houghton (Stoneham, Mass.), who won both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyles, respectively.

Meanwhile, freshman Natalie Omary (New York, N.Y.) posted her first collegiate win in the 100-yard breaststroke for Clark and Eileen Garcia (New York, N.Y.) posted the top performances on both the one-meter (288.90) and the three-meter (292.50) diving boards.

Kendall Ford (Geneva, Ill.) proved to be the star for the Babson women, finishing first in the 200-yard individual medley and the 1,000-yard freestyle and was second in the 100-yard butterfly.

Also having a strong showing in the opening meet of the season was Erica Riccardi (Los Angeles, Calif.), who turned in a first-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke and second in the 200-yard freestyle.

Breen-Franklin, meanwhile, paced the Babson men with three individual wins – taking first in the 200-yard freestyle, the 500-yard freestyle and finally the 1,000-yard freestyle.

Ryan Pope (Hawthorne, N.Y.) won both diving events for Babson – topping Alex Baez (New York, N.Y.) 227.00-143.45 on the one-meter board and then besting Baez again on the three-meter apparatus, 246.75-148.10.

Clive Green (Portmore, Jamaica) won both the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly for the Cougars, while Ryan Garr (North Kingstown, R.I.) won the 200-yard individual medley and freshman Will Hurley (Swanville, Maine) was victorious in the 100-yard backstroke.

Both Cougar teams visit Bridgewater State next Saturday, while the Babson teams travel to UMass-Dartmouth.