Tartans Begin Second Semester with Double-Dual Win

(NEW WILMINGTON, Pa.) – The Carnegie Mellon University women's swimming and diving team started second semester with a double-dual win at Westminster College on Saturday, January 21. The Tartans defeated both Westminster and SUNY Geneseo.

Freshman Kaeli Halbersleben (Maineville, Ohio/Kings) won the 1,650-yard freestyle ahead of senior teammate Victoria Adams (Rutherford, N.J./Rutherford) with a time of 18:00.93. Adams finished in 18:22.30.

Sophomore Soleil Phan (Irvine, Calif./Beckman) followed Halbersleben's win with a victory in the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1:57.44. Freshman Kelley Sheehan (Poway, Calif./Poway) pulled in a second-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:03.20 before junior Breanna Stillo (West Caldwell, N.J../James Caldwell) led a three in-a-row finish for the Tartans in the 100-yard breaststoke with a second-place showing in 1:08.76.

Sophomore Megan Garvey (West Chester, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) and freshman Wendy Liu (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) finished one-two in the 200-yard butterfly with times of 2:11.26 and 2:14.86, respectively. Stillo then led the Tartans into the first break with a win in the 50-yard freestyle in 25:42.

Senior diver Olivia DeFazio (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) won the 1-meter board with 234.70 points and the 3-meter board with 244.90 points.

Phan won the first event out of the break for the Tartans in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 55.58 before the Tartans claimed second in the next three events.

Freshman Debbie Lin (Saratoga, Calif./Saratoga) placed second in the 200-yard backstroke in 2:14.12, sophomore Vivian Wong (Saratoga, Calif./The Harker School) was second in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:30.53 and Halbersleben was second in the 500-yard freestyle in 5:19.37.

Phan than won her third event of the day touching first in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:00.11 with Garvey right behind her in 1:00.46.

The Tartans will return home for their senior meet against Denison University on Saturday, January 28. The meet is set to start at 1:00 p.m.