SALISBURY, N.C. — The Catawba College women's swimming team delivered an impressive performance Friday against Division I Davidson, collecting 11 event victories, including both relays, in a strong showing against the Wildcats ahead of a dominant 157-37 triumph over Barton Saturday.
Eniko Onofer and Fiona Byrne led the way for the women with two individual victories apiece. Onofer captured the 100-yard backstroke in 55.82 seconds before adding a victory in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 50.77. Byrne swept the distance freestyle events, winning the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:08.99 and narrowly claiming the 500-yard freestyle in 4:59.81, edging Davidson's Bea Turrettini by just eight-hundredths of a second.
Fernanda Regina Pera Dos Santos added a victory in the 200-yard freestyle, touching first in 1:51.79. She also finished second behind Onofer in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 51.93, giving the Indians the top two spots in the event.
Mahee Gory-Lauret swept the breaststroke events, winning the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:03.72 and the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:21.19. Louise Jones followed with a runner-up finish in the 200 breaststroke (2:22.27) and placed fourth overall in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.30).
Eszti Pajor continued her strong season with a victory in the 200-yard backstroke, finishing in 2:01.52. Pajor also placed fourth in the 100-yard backstroke (57.33), while Maggie Cheves followed in fifth (57.95).
Jones added another individual victory in the 200-yard individual medley, touching first in 2:05.70.
Catawba opened the meet with a victory in the 200-yard medley relay as Danila Sita, Pera Dos Santos, Sydney Peterson and Onofer combined for a time of 1:42.78, edging Davidson's top relay by nine-hundredths of a second. The Catawba Indians' second relay team of Cheves, Jones, Brinkley Watson and Pajor followed in third overall with a time of 1:46.43.
The women also claimed the 400-yard freestyle relay as Clara Campo de Paoli, Pera dos Santos, Onofer and Sita combined for a winning time of 3:25.88.
Additional notable performances included Sita's runner-up finish in the 50-yard freestyle (23.95), followed by Campo de Paoli in third (24.18) and Marleen Plachetka in fourth (24.24). Peterson added third-place finishes in the 200-yard butterfly (2:08.76) and 100-yard butterfly (56.48).
Zofia Kondrasiuk contributed a third-place finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:26.25) and fourth in the 500-yard freestyle (5:06.29), while Ella Gutenwik placed fifth in the 200-yard freestyle (1:53.71).
The following day the women's swimming team also delivered a dominant performance against Barton, cruising to a 157-37 dual-meet victory behind a balanced effort that saw the team claim the top 10 spots in the individual high-point standings.
Mahee Gory-Lauret led the way with a meet-high 18 points, collecting two first-place finishes. Eszti Pajor followed with 15.5 points, recording two victories and a runner-up finish to secure second place in the individual standings.
Maggie Cheves and Josephine Ferrari each contributed 13 points behind one victory and one runner-up finish apiece. Zofia Kondrasiuk added 12 points with a first-place finish and a third-place showing, while Louise Jones contributed 9.5 points with one victory and a third-place finish.
Eniko Onofer and Danila Sita each collected two first-place finishes, while Fernanda Regina Pera Dos Santos and Marleen Plachetka added one victory and one runner-up finish apiece. The four swimmers each contributed nine points to the Indians' commanding performance.
Sydney Peterson also recorded a first-place finish and a runner-up showing, while Makayla Bazeley added two third-place finishes. Ella Gutenwik, Layla Watson and Taylor Wilson each earned runner-up finishes, and Brinkley Watson contributed a third-place performance.
Catawba will now take a short break before participating in the Fall Frenzy Invite Nov. 20-22 hosted by Queens University of Charlotte.
