Augusta Lewis, Katy Shaw Win Titles on Second Day of SCIAC Championships

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Augusta Lewis broke her own SCIAC record in the 200 IM with a 2:00.69, her seventh SCIAC IM title in seven tries, and Katy Shaw earned the 500-yard freestyle title in 5:00.21 to highlight the performance of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's swimming and diving team on the second day of the SCIAC Championships on Thursday at the East Los Angeles College Swim Stadium.

Lewis and Shaw both led 1-2 finishes for the Athenas, as Ella Blake was second in the 500 free with a time of 5:01.00 and Jameson Mitchum was second in the 200 IM in 2:05.36. 

CMS trails Pomona-Pitzer narrowly after the second day, with just 15 points separating the two teams (357-342). The Athenas will pull in front once the next event is completed, as the women's one-meter dive finished prelims with the Athenas ranking 1-2-3, as Emma Ng Pack, Makenna Parkinson and Izzy Doud will be looking to sweep the podium for a second time tomorrow, after Doud won the three-meter title on Wednesday with Ng Pack second and Parkinson third.  

Lewis set the SCIAC meet record in the 200 IM last year with a 2:02.39, and then topped that at the NCAA Division III Championships on her way to a third-place finish with a 2:01.21. She did herself one better with a 2:00.69 on Thursday to knock another .52 off her personal best, as she will try to pursue both a national title and a sub-2:00 swim at this year's nationals. Mitchum held off Emmie Appl of Pomona-Pitzer for second place with a time of 2:05.36, while Mackenzie Mayfield was fourth in 2:05.59, just .13 behind Appl amd Allyson Yao was fifth as CMS had four of the top five.  

Shaw had a close race with Ella Blake throughout but was able to surge to a body-length lead over the second half of the 500 and held on to win in 5:00.21. She had the fastest time in prelims by over five seconds with a 5:03.25, and then trimmed another three seconds off that total in the finals. Alex Towers also qualified for the finals for the Athenas and earned 11 points with an eighth-place finish.

Annika Sharma and Lexi Punishill qualified for the finals in the 50-yard freestyle, finishing sixth and eighth, respectively, while Madeleine Kan won the consolation head to finish ninth. The three then came back after a rest and swam the 200-yard freestyle relay with Mayfield, and the quartet finished second with a 1:35.57. 

Day three of the SCIAC Championships will get underway with prelims in the morning at 9 a.m., with the finals of the one-meter dive taking place in the afternoon. Lewis will swim in the 400 IM to try to finish her career with eight IM titles in eight tries.