Sweet Briar, Va.—The Sweet Briar Vixens stayed competitive throughout the swim meet at Prothro Natatorium where they hosted the Washington & Lee Generals. The Generals out swam the Vixens by a score of 151-101.

Despite the loss, the Vixen’s continue to improve as two school records were broken in the team’s first home meet. The 400-meter Medley Relay team of juniors Hannah Hesser (Richmond, Va.), Hayley Hill (Bermuda), sophomores Allison Stansberry (Nashville, Tenn.), and Melissa Simpson (Amherst, Va.) swam a 4:52.11, breaking the 28 year old record by .11 seconds.



Hannah Hesser, '10

Leading off backstroke, Hesser also broke Sharon Bittner’s 1989 record with a time of 1:12.14. Coach Kuhn expected his swimmers to perform well, but knew it would take great swims to break the records. “The records were indicative of the entire team’s swimming performance. Our focus has always been to be the best at the things that do not take talent. The team, despite having a hard practice this morning, showed mental toughness in finishing their races strong while performing the little things correctly”.

The swimming squad finished first in the 200-meter butterfly, 50-meter freestyle, and 400-meter freestyle. Hesser won the 200-meter butterfly with a time of 2:38.32 and the 400 freestyle as she just missed the school record with a time of 4:50.72. Simpson out-touched Julianne Miata of Washington & Lee by .02 with a time of 29.42. Coach Kuhn also mentioned the strong performances were turned in by Charlotte Greenwood in the freestyle, first year student-athlete Maryanne Grey (Chicopee, Mass.) swimming breaststroke for the first time, and senior Jessica Johnson (Woolwine, Va.) for swimming the three hard events with very little rest.

The team’s next competition is Saturday, November 15th against conference rival Guilford College. The meet is away and begins at 1pm.

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