Westfield State junior Amanda Labriola won the 50 backstroke in her first competition this season. (File photo by Mickey Curtis)
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Westfield State University defeated the University of Saint Joseph, 146-104, in women’s swimming and diving action on Saturday.
Haylee McQuay (Dartmouth, Mass.) and Kirsten LaMotte (Amherst, Mass.) each won two individual events an took part in a winning relay for the Owls. McQuay won the 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle while LaMotte won the 50 breaststroke and 50 butterfly.
Also for Westfield, Amanda Labriola (Westerly, R.I.) won the 50 backstroke in her first competition this season after being sidelined with an injury. Jess Lindsay (Brimfield, Mass.) won the 200 backstroke and Katie Sterpka (Barkhamsted, Conn.) won one-meter diving.
University of Saint Joseph freshman Rachel Mauthe (East Lyme, Conn.) won three individual events and broke the school record in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Mauthe swam the 1,650 in 20 minutes and seven one-hundredths of a second to shatter the record of USJ Hall of Famer Juliette Byrnes who clocked a previous-record 20:13.55 on Dec. 7, 2002. It had been the school’s longest-standing varsity swimming record. Mauthe also broke the freshman record for the event, which had been 20:18.70, set by Adrienne Payne on Dec. 4, 1999.
Mauthe also won the 200 and 500 freestyle for USJ. Liz Cappiello (Hamden, Conn.) won the 200 butterfly for USJ and Jessica Gale won the 100 breaststroke.
Westfield State hosts Western Connecticut State in the Owls’ final home meet this season on Saturday, Feb. 1.
