PATCHOUGE, N.y. - The Cedar Crest College swim team opened 2017 with a tough 95-97 loss to St. Joseph's College Long Island on Saturday afternoon. 

To being the meet, the 200 yard relay team of freshman Natalie Bennington (Scranton, Pa./Scranton), freshman Madison Wagner (Boyertown, Pa./Oley Valley), senior Ciara Lane (Northampton, PA/Northampton Area) and freshman Dawn Cortright (Oxford, N.J./Warrenhills Regional ) took first with an overall time of 2:13.81. In the 1000 yard freestyle, junior Nithya Lakshminarayanan (Newtown, PA/Council Rock North ) placed first with a final time of 12:36.59 breaking a school record set in 2014. Senior Hali Sampson (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) touched the wall at 14:10.36, coming in fourth place. Wagner and Bennington came in third at 2:18.09 and fifth at 2:29.76 respectively in the 200 yard freestyle.

Lane took the first place finish in the 200 yard IM with a time of 2:35.66 and freshman Cassandra Reijgers (Hollis, NH/Hollis Brookline) touched the wall at 3:13.39 for a fourth place finish. Wagner placed second in the 100 yard butterfly, coming in at 1:15.17. Senior Maggie Olock (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty High School) took the first place finish in the 100 yard freestyle, touching the wall at 56.86. Cortright came in at 1:05.99, finishing in fourth place.

In the 100 yard backstroke, Lane placed first at 1:11.16 with sophomore Tiffany Cuth (Walnutport, Pa./Northampton) coming in at 1:39.59 taking the fourth place spot. Bennington and Sampson placed third and fifth in the 500 yard freestyle, touching the wall at 6:40.05 and 6:51.78 respectively. Lakshminarayanan finished first in the 100 yard breaststroke with a time of 1:20.70. Rejgers touched the wall next at 1:35.56 to take third, with Cuth rounding out the squad in sixth at 2:07.47. The 200 yard freestyle relay team of Sampson, Rejgers, Lakshminarayanan, and Olock placed second with a time of 2:05.09.

The next meet for the Falcons will be at the College of New Rochelle on January 28 at 1:00 PM.