Mount St. Joseph Academy's swim team raised its record to 3-0 last Wednesday in Athletic Association of Catholic Academies dual meets, defeating Gwynedd Mercy Academy, 120-50. The Mount Magic won all three relay races and took first place in seven of the eight individual events.

In the middle of the meet, the Mount and Gwynedd held a joint Senior Day ceremony at the Arcadia University pool, which both teams use as their home venue.

The 12th-graders getting a send-off from Mount St. Joseph were Veronica Cherico, Lauren Dachowski, Elizabeth Seely, twins Reagan and Reese Skalicky, Julia Solecki, and Kathryn Sponseller.

In individual freestyle events, Sponseller won both the 50-yard race (26:25) and the 100 (58.31), with only one event on the schedule coming between the those performances. She also anchored the winning 4 x 400 freestyle relay at the end of the meet.

At the start of the day's proceedings, Sponseller anchored a Mount quartet that finished second in the 200 yard medley relay. The winning foursome for the Magic (2:00.94) was composed of junior Maya McCottry, Cherico, and sophomores Zoe Truitt and Katherine Scalon. Preceding Sponseller in the second-place quartet were sophomore Sarah Burman, freshman Ally Truitt, and junior Aurora Martin. Coming in third for Gwynedd were Bella Juarez, Emma Cole, Ella McManus, and Trinity Meehan.

Next, MSJ sophomore Rose Schmidt won the 200 freestyle (2:07.66) ahead of Gwynedd's Lily Morrissey and Samantha Yuen. Although the Monarchs captured second and third place, fourth and fifth-place results from the Skalicky sisters allowed the Magic to emerge with nine points to Gwynedd's seven. Throughout the meet, Mount St. Joe would increase its advantage not only with first-place outcomes, but with its team depth, as well.

Cole gave Gwynedd Mercy its lone victory of the day when she won the 200 individual medley in 2:36.00. The next two spots went to Cherico and MSJ freshman Layla Seward. Sponseller's victory in the 50 free came next, with GMA's Amanda Murray becoming the runner-up and Mount freshman Maddie Dudley placing third.

In the 100 butterfly, the Magic's Martin (1:03.50) and McCottry had a one-two finish, ahead of the third-place McManus of the Monarchs. Sponseller was then back at it for the Mounties, winning the 100 free to lead a sweep of the top three places. Freshman Kelly McDonald came in second and her classmate Dudley was third.

At this stage, the Monarchs were already facing a daunting deficit in the meet score, now trailing 65-29.

The long 500 freestyle race was next and Mount 10th-graders dominated, with Scanlon winning (5:29.75) and Schmidt securing second place. Murray placed third for Gwynedd.

The two Mounties might as well have stayed in the water, as both raced in the 200 freestyle relay. For the victorious Magic (1:48.50), the winning order was Martin, Dachowski, Schmidt and Scanlon. After Gwynedd finished second with Morrissey, Yuen, Meehan, and McManus, Mount St. Joe had a third-place foursome featuring McDonald, Seward, Zoe Truitt, and Dudley.

In the only event with even scoring between the two teams, the Mount's McCottry won the 100 backstroke in 1:06.03 while Gwynedd got second from Juarez and third from Gabriella Andolino. The Magic's Burman placed fourth and the Monarchs' Cole was fifth, giving each team eight points in the meet score.

Things were not so balanced in the final individual event, as a victorious Cherico was timed at 1:17.28 in the 100 breast stroke and teammates Ally Truitt and junior Jamison Hartman completed a one-two-three sweep for the Magic.

In the 400 freestyle relay that wrapped up the meet, the Mount "A" team of McDonald, Seward, Martin, and Sponseller established a lead early on, while GMA's McManus, Yuen, Morrissey, and Murray were swimming in second place for more than half the race. The Monarchs were eventually reeled in by MSJ "B" (Dudley, freshman Ava Downey, Schmidt, and Scanlon), which finished second while Mount "A" won in 3:59.94.